Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Encyclopedia
Corpus Christi College is a constituent college
of the University of Cambridge
. It is notable as the only college founded by Cambridge
townspeople: it was established in 1352 by the Guilds of Corpus Christi
and the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the second smallest of the traditional colleges of the university (after Peterhouse
), and the smallest in terms of undergraduate student intake.
Corpus Christi is among the wealthiest colleges at Cambridge University: with an endowment of £172,218,402 it is ranked as the fifth richest college, and the third richest in terms of fixed assets per student, due to its wealth and small student population.
of Corpus Christi
was founded in Cambridge
in 1349 by William Horwode, Henry de Tangmere, and John Hardy in response to the Black Death
. They determined to found a new college in the University of Cambridge
, the eighth in the University's history. Later the same year the new guild merged with an older guild, the Guild of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which had been decimated by the Plague
. The united guilds acquired land in the centre of town and their patron, the Duke of Lancaster
, applied to King Edward III for a licence to found a new college, which was granted in 1352.
Construction began immediately of a single modest court
near the parish church and in 1356 it was ready to house the Master
and two fellow
s. The college's statutes were drawn up in 1356. The united guild merged its identity with the new college, which acquired all the guild's lands, ceremonies, and revenues. The grandest of these was the annual Corpus Christi procession
: a parade through the streets to Magdalene Bridge, the host
carried by a priest and several of the college's treasures carried by the Master and fellows, before returning for an extravagant dinner. The parade continued until the English Reformation
, when the Master, William Sowode, put a stop to it in 1535. The college continues to have a grand dinner on the feast day of Corpus Christi
, the Thursday after Trinity Sunday
.
The newly constructed court could house 22 fellows and students. The statutes laid down the rules governing the behaviour of fellows only. Students were not part of the foundation at this stage and would not come within the scope of the statutes for another 200 years.
, so the members worshipped in St Bene't's Church
next door. For many years, particularly during the Reformation when Catholic references were discouraged, Corpus was known as St Bene't's. By 1376 it possessed 55 books, and many more would be donated or bequeathed over the succeeding centuries, including, most significantly, those donated in the 16th century by Archbishop Matthew Parker
, who is celebrated by the college as its greatest benefactor.
During the Peasants Revolt in 1381, the college was sacked by a mob of townspeople (and apparently some students) led by the mayor which, according to the college, carried away its charter
to be burned and plate
while gutting the rest of the college buildings. Corpus was the only University college, although by no mean the only University building, to be attacked. The revolt, which ironically took place during the Corpus Christi
week, focused on the college as centre of discontent due to its rigid collection of "candle rents". The college claimed £80 (roughly £50,000 in modern terms) in damages.
In 1460 during the Wars of the Roses
, the college paid for armaments including artillery and arrows, and protective clothing to defend the college's treasures from a "tempestuous riot".
Elizabeth, Duchess of Norfolk
and her sister Lady Eleanor Botelar née Talbot
, who was jilted by Edward IV
, endowed the college with scholarships in the 1460s and financed repairs to the college buildings. As a monument a 'talbot'
, the heraldic supporter of the Talbot family, was placed on the gable of Old Court and can still be seen today. At the same time the Master, Thomas Cosyn, built the college's first chapel and a passageway between Old Court and St Bene't's Church. Over the next few centuries, garret
rooms were added in Old Court increasing student numbers.
brought to England, the college produced adherents and indeed martyrs to both traditions. Notable are William Sowode who cancelled the Corpus Christi procession, St Richard Reynolds who was martyred by Henry VIII
and Thomas Dusgate and George Wishart
who were both burned as Protestants
. It was during this time that Matthew Parker
became Master. He donated his unrivalled library to the college, much silver plate and its symbol, the pelican. In order to ensure the safety of his collection Parker inserted into the terms of his endowment one which stated that if any more than a certain number of books were lost, the rest of the collection would pass first to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
and then (in the advent of any more losses) to Trinity Hall, Cambridge
. Every few years, representatives from both of those colleges ceremonially inspect the collection for any losses. Parker placed a similar condition on the silver that he bequeathed to the college and these stipulations are part of the reason that Corpus Christi College retains to this day the entirety of the library and the silver collection, as they were unable to sell off (or melt down) the less valuable parts of either collection without losing both. So assiduous was Archbishop Parker in his acquisition of books and manuscripts he earned himself the epithet of "Nosey Parker", bringing about a phrase still used today. Parker was forced to resign as Master in 1553 by the accession of Mary I
but was elected Archbishop of Canterbury
upon the succession of Elizabeth I.
The playwright Christopher Marlowe
is perhaps the college's most-celebrated son, having matriculated to Corpus in 1580. Although little is known about his time there, it is often believed that it was during his study for his MA that he began his work as a spy, a claim based on only a single cryptic statement by the Privy Council
. In 1953 during renovation of the Master's Lodge a portrait of a man "in the 21st year of his age" was discovered. As the painting is dated 1585, the year Marlowe was 21, it has been claimed as a portrait of the playwright himself.
As the number of students rose a bigger chapel became necessary. In 1578 Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, who had already endowed several scholarships to the college, donated £200 (roughly £30,000 now) for the construction of a new chapel. This sum was not nearly great enough to build a chapel, and despite the efforts of the Master and fellows, the project outran estimates and nearly bankrupted the college. The college sold all of its silver, apart from the gifts from Parker, and the building work was not completed until 1662. Other contributors included Elizabeth I and Sir Francis Drake.
Due to disputed appointments to the Mastership, Elizabeth I imposed the appointment of John Jegon
as Master in 1590. The college did not appoint its own Master for some time. Although not the college's choice, Jegon extricated the college from its financial difficulties by instituting fellow commoners, who would stay for one or two years and were never technically members of the University. Their parents were required to pay with a silver cup or tankard
, which would then be melted down.
The next notable Master was Henry Butts, who was also Vice Chancellor of the University. When the plague returned to the city and the rest of the University had fled, Butts stayed at his post and tried to limit the pestilence while staying alone in the college. He was unrewarded for his bravery and this experience seems to have had a terrible effect on him. In 1632, when Butts failed to turn up to deliver the University Sermon on Easter Day, he was found to have hanged himself.
. That, and its unrivalled collection of manuscripts and massive collection of rare wines and ports, fuels rumours that it is Cambridge's richest college per student. This is a moot point, since these assets cannot be sold and most cannot be valued.
Unlike other Oxbridge
colleges, the college managed to remain neutral during the Civil War. This was due to the ministration of Richard Love
who was Master throughout the Civil War and the Commonwealth
. According to college legend, the silver plate
was distributed to the fellows to keep it from being requisitioned by the warring factions. When the fighting finished the plate was returned and melted down to pay for repairs. Twelve college heads were removed from their posts, but Love and three others were retained. The college also escaped the worst excesses of the puritan
Commonwealth. When William Dowsing
inspected the college he found "nothing to amend". St Bene't's Church was not so lucky and indeed there was much disturbance in the fellowship as many were forced out and reinstated as circumstances changed through the period.
, Clement Scott, whom they suspected of popery. He hid himself from the mob so they destroyed his books and papers.
The college continued to grow throughout the 18th Century and did produce several distinguished scholars and clergymen including the so called Benedictine Antiquaries, a dozen or so men all well known for antiquarian research including figures like Richard Gough
, Brock Rand and William Stukeley
.
In the 1740s Archbishop Thomas Herring
left £1000 for the rebuilding of the college and this led to several abortive attempts to start construction. In 1770 Dr Matthias Mawson
, former Master and Bishop of Ely
, bequeathed £3000 to defray the costs of demolishing and rebuilding the college but this was not enough. It was not until 1822 when £55,000 had accrued in the rebuilding fund that efforts started. William Wilkins
, who had recently completed major works at Downing
, King's, and Trinity, was appointed architect and the New Court was completed in 1827 in a neo-gothic style. This involved the demolition of several buildings, including the Elizabethan chapel. The chapel currently standing in New Court is part of the 19th Century construction. Completion of a new, larger court allowed for many more students and numbers increased from 48 to 100.
of the Church of England
. For many years the majority of the college's graduates went on to be clergymen. The University around the college was changing quickly, with the repeal of the Test Acts and Catholic emancipation
allowing Catholics to join the University for the first time. The syllabus also broadened and the fellow commoners faded away. In 1882, there was a momentous change in Corpus; fellows were allowed to marry. This meant that being an academic fellow could be a lifelong career rather than a stop gap between study and becoming a country parson. Consequently, the demographics of the college fellowship changed significantly during this time. The first married fellow was Prof Edward Byles Cowell
who was the first professor of Sanskrit
. Later in the century the college fell on hard times and the number of undergraduates dropped to fewer than 50. It was around this time that the infamous 'Chess Club' was founded. Despite their impeccant name they became notorious for hard drinking and partying. They were outlawed in the 1980s for their activities and there has been a blanket ban on all "drinking societies" since.
was made Master in 1906 and was the first ever layman to be appointed to the post. He changed the policy of the college with regard to admittance of fellows and undergraduates encouraging men from other colleges and outside Cambridge to become fellows. The college was no longer chiefly training men for the clergy. Student numbers increased significantly and a new undergraduate Library named after one of the Burgesses for the University, Geoffrey Butler was completed. The college also began construction of its sports grounds in west Cambridge in 1939.
, the Master was Sir Will Spens
, who was also Regional Commissioner for the Eastern Region: had Hitler
invaded, he would have been in charge of running Eastern England. This has led to a persistent rumour of a network of tunnels under the college excavated for this purpose. While there are extensive wine cellars, there is no evidence of such tunnels. While there were fewer undergraduates, the space was taken by cadets and officers taking short courses. Due to the increase in student numbers in the 1930s, Corpus is one of the few British institutions to have lost more members in the Second World War than in the First. Their names are inscribed in the Chapel.
Corpus owns The Eagle Pub, which is managed by Greene King. Watson and Crick
are said to have refreshed themselves in this pub while studying the structure of DNA in the nearby Cavendish Laboratory
. Upon making the discovery in 1952, they are said to have walked into the pub and declared, "We have found the secret of life". A blue plaque
on the front of the pub commemorates the event. The Eagle is also well known as a haunt for RAF officers in World War Two; renovations revealed hundreds of signatures, drawings and messages written, or even burnt, onto the walls and ceilings.
In 1962, the college approved the conversion of the Leckhampton
site to allow for more accommodation for fellows and postgraduate students. Further properties were purchased adjacent to the site and a new building, the George Thomson
building, named in honour of a former Master, was completed in 1964.
In 1983 women were first admitted as undergraduates. They had been able to become research students and Fellows for a few years before this. This made Corpus the penultimate college, the last being Magdalene
, to admit women as students. In the same year, the college completed building work in Botolph Court, adding further undergraduate accommodation. Similar renovation work was completed in Bene't Court above the Eagle pub in the 1990s along with the creation of the Robert Beldam building.
In recent years, the College has spearheaded the Northern Ireland
Initiative and also has strong links with New Zealand
, taking a student on a full scholarship from the country each year, paid for by the Worshipful Company of Girdlers
. The current President is the historian and Cold War
scholar Professor Christopher Andrew. He also chairs the 'Cambridge Intelligence Seminar' which convenes regularly in rooms. In July 2011, Corpus was 12th in the Tompkins Table
with a score of 65.88% (24.50% firsts).
The current college visitor
is the Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Lord Sainsbury of Turville
.
In 2008 the college completed the renovation of an adjacent bank building and other college buildings to create Library Court, the third court within the main college campus.
.
As with all Cambridge colleges, Corpus has its own student unions (combination rooms
) for both undergraduates and graduates, the JCR and MCR respectively. Confusingly, the JCR (Junior Combination Room) is also the name for the entire student body 'en masse' (including the graduates) and the name of the student common room as well. On November 14, 2010, the JCR and MCR student bodies disaffiliated from CUSU, after holding a College-wide ballot in which 71% of undergraduates and 86% of postgraduates that voted were in favour of disaffiliation. The JCR president for the year 2011-2012 is James Black. In 2008 the college bar was relocated from New Court to an underground position in the newly built Library Court. It hosts regular themed parties known in Corpus slang as a slack, e.g. Hallowe'en slack. Like most of the other colleges Corpus owns a punt. Named Prudence, she can only be used by members of the MCR with the permission of the 'Admiral of the Punt'.
Corpus hosts a biennial May Ball
on the Friday of May Week
. At previous balls The Automatic
(2009) and The Sunshine Underground
(2007) have performed. The 2011 May Ball was held on Friday 24 June and the theme was "Distant Shores".http://www.corpusmayball2011.co.uk
Every year Corpus competes with its sister college in Oxford, also called Corpus Christi
, in the Corpus Challenge. Both colleges compete in many sports including football, rugby
, hockey
and rowing races
as well as darts
, table tennis
and pool. Winning an individual sport accrues a set amount of points with the totals deciding the overall winners. The location of 'The Challenge' alternates between the colleges every year. In 2011, it was held in Oxford
, Cambridge
retaining the cup, winning 125-50.
The Corpus Playroom is a student theatre, opened in 1979 and was, until 2001, run solely by the students of Corpus Christi. In 2011 the ADC Theatre
took over the management of the Playroom, working alongside the college and the Fletcher Players, the college drama society, named after the Corpus alumnus
and playwright, John Fletcher
. It has an important place in the drama landscape of Cambridge, being the only other permanent student venue apart from the ADC
. Several notable performers and directors have played there including Emma Thompson
, Hugh Bonneville
, Sam Mendes
and Stephen Fry
, who is the Playroom's patron. The Playroom is currently undergoing a fund-raising campaign to renovate and expand its facilities.http://www.corpusplayroom.co.uk/project.php
Dramatically, each spring a duck chooses to lay her eggs in a flower pot in Old Court some 200m from the River Cam
. When the ducklings hatch and are ready to leave for the water one of the porters
must stop traffic on Trumpington Street to allow the duck and her offspring to cross.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p46wI9ITr2g&feature=related The porters from St Catharine's
across the road open the gates of their college and take over the responsibility of getting them to the river from there.
Another is that of Elizabeth Spencer and her young lover (both died in 1667). Elizabeth was the daughter of the then Master, John Spencer
and apart from the Master's wife, the only woman in college. One of the students, James Betts, became enamoured with her and they regularly had tea together. On one such occasion her father interrupted them and she bungled Betts into a wardrobe. She then went away for some time leaving him in the cupboard, which only opened from the outside. When she came back to the cupboard she discovered he had asphyxia
ted. Elizabeth, in a fit of grief, committed suicide, throwing herself from the roof of Old Court. Their ghosts are said to walk on Christmas Eve.
There have been few sightings of either apparition since the early 20th Century. This may have been because the Master in the 1930s, Sir Will Spens, let it be known that anyone complaining of a ghost would be sent down
.
, which says the same of its Mob Quad
). It is possibly built from the core of an even older building. Four sided, it typifies the model of construction of the colleges in Oxford or Cambridge. A passageway connects Old Court to Bene't Street
. Due to its age the rooms are large and contain antique furniture but lack basic facilities and plumbing. In 1919 the ivy was removed from Old Court and a roughcast rendering was put in its place, followed by a major restoration in 1952 paid for by donations from old members.
During the Summer months students are permitted to sit on the lawn in Old Court and garden parties may be held whereas, like other Oxbridge colleges, normally only fellows are allowed to walk on the lawns. There is a large plaque, on the northern wall, dedicated to Christopher Marlowe
and John Fletcher
, both famous playwrights who studied at Corpus. Standing inside Old Court one can see the tower of St Bene't's Church
, the oldest building in Cambridge, and the Old Cavendish Laboratory
where the structure of DNA was solved by Watson and Crick and groundbreaking work on the structure of the atom was conducted by J. J. Thomson
and Ernest Rutherford
.
, which was started by Fabian Stedman
, a parish clerk, in 1670.
It is connected to the college by a blocked up passage which now comprises one of the Old Court rooms. It ends in a hollow pillar in St Bene't's Church which contains a spiral staircase and portholes from which one could view the church, and specifically the Side Altar. The staircase continues further to a bathroom with a bath set at what appears to be coffin level in the adjacent graveyard.
, who is buried in the vaults of the college chapel. Although he went on to design the curtain wall in front of King's College, Cambridge
and the National Gallery
in London
, he considered Corpus to be his favourite work and requested to be buried in the Chapel. A plaque commemorating him is in the entrance to the Parker Library
within the court. This court also housed the Butler Library, the college's student library, directly below the Parker Library. Upon completion of the building works in 2008, it relocated to the new Library Court and was renamed the Taylor Library after the project's main benefactor John Taylor
. Many of the more precious volumes in the Parker Library are now protected in vaults in what used to be the Butler Library. New Court was built to symbolise the harmony between the mind, body and soul with the Parker Library on the right representing the mind, the Hall and kitchens on the left representing the body and the Chapel in the centre representing the soul.
in Germany
which had been dissolved by Napoleon. Some of the pews and the pulpit of the Elizabethan chapel can now be found in St Andrew's Church, Thurning, Norfolk
. Hanging on the South wall is a depiction of the Madonna and Child
by 17th Century artist Elisabetta Sirani
. The Chapel also features an icon
which is unusual for Oxbridge colleges. The depiction of the Christ Pantocrator
was painted for the college by a Greek Orthodox monk
and is used as a focus of meditation.
The Chapel was extended in the late 19th Century to make room for increasing student numbers and the chancel dates from this time. The ceiling, which had been a stone fan ribbed vault like the ceiling of the college gatehouse, was replaced by the painted wooden ceiling still in place today.
Services are held daily and there are sung services three times a week: Evensong
on a Wednesday evening and on Sunday Holy Communion
in the morning and Evensong in the evening. The Chapel choir is made up of students from both Corpus and other colleges in the University. They have released several CDs and tour regularly, previously visiting New York
and Italy
.
The current organ was built by Noel Mander MBE
in 1968 and the casework was designed by Stephen Dykes Bower
. The previous organ was donated to Methodist College Belfast
on their centenary in 1968.
, the college's Master between 1544 and 1553, who as Archbishop of Canterbury
formed a fine collection of manuscripts from the libraries of dissolved monasteries
. It is one of the finest and most important collections of medieval manuscripts in the world. The building was completed in 1827 in the construction of Wilkin's New Court. Currently the collection comprises over 600 manuscripts, around 480 of which were given by Parker, who also donated around 1000 printed volumes.
Its most famous possession is the Canterbury Gospels, probably brought to England by St Augustine, when he was sent by Pope Gregory I
to convert the people of Britain in 598AD. The Gospels are still used in the enthronement of the Archbishops of Canterbury
today and are transported to and from Canterbury
by the Master
and college representatives. It also contains the principal manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
, works by Matthew Paris
and Chaucer's
Troilus and Criseyde
, to name only a few.
In a joint venture between the college, the University Library
and Stanford University
in the United States of America the entire collection was digitised and is now available on the internet.http://parkerweb.stanford.edu Completed in 2010, the process involved the digitisation
of over 200,000 separate pages.
In 2005, the lease of the bank adjacent to Corpus expired and the college reclaimed it to begin construction of Library Court. Due to be completed in 2007, the project overran due to archaeological finds and issues removing the bank vault.
Library Court was completed in January 2008 and houses the college's student centre which includes the college bar, JCR and the Taylor Library along with new college offices. The Taylor Library was largely funded by and named after Dr John Taylor
, a former graduate of the college, inventor of the cordless kettle and former Chairman of Strix Ltd, an electric kettle thermostat manufacturer.
While the outer facade of the bank building facing onto Trumpington Street, designed by architect Horace Francis, is Grade II listed, the interior was not. The inside was gutted and a modern library built inside. The other rooms including the bar, student rooms, fellows rooms and student centre were remodelled within the existing building. Facing onto Library Court from the Taylor Library is a large window decorated by an engraving by Lida Kindersley. The project was designed by Wright & Wright Architects of London. The building has received several awards including the 2009 Royal Institute of British Architects
Award in the East .
On 19 September 2008, physicist
Stephen Hawking
unveiled a new clock called the Chronophage
, which means "Time Eater". It is situated facing onto the corner of King's Parade and Trumpington where the old entrance to the bank used to be. The clock is unusual not only because of its design but also because it is only accurate once every 5 minutes. The clock was conceived, designed and paid for by Taylor and donated to his alma mater
. The clock is neon lit at night.
Leckhampton is the graduate campus. It is situated about a mile west of the main college site, just outside the city centre and is set off Grange Road
. Here there are playing fields, 9½ acres (38,000 m²) of gardens and an open air swimming pool. It is known by students of the college as "Leckers".
and Botolph Court which is said to be built on top of a 17th century plague pit and slowly sinking into it.
The Robert Beldam Building, adjacent to Bene't Street Hostel, is a modern accommodation block completed in the 1990s. It includes the McCrum Lecture Theatre. Additionally, the college owns two houses (Nos 6 & 8) in Trumpington Street, known in the college as "T" Street, which are almost directly opposite the University Engineering Department
.
Between Trumpington Street
and Library Court are a series of terraced houses, also designed by Wilkins, owned by the college. All have been reclaimed by the college for use as student rooms or part of the Library except for the block used by the Trumpington Street Medical Practice. The doors leading from Trumpington Street have been sealed and the buildings can only be entered through Library Court.
There are two main gardens in the main college campus. The Bursar's Garden and the Master's Garden, the latter being the private garden of the Master and his family attached to the Master's Lodge. The Bursar's garden is a small garden situated between New Court, the Chapel and Old Court. Students are allowed to sit there throughout the Easter term at certain times of day. It is notable for the Mulberry
tree which was given to the college by King James I
as part of his abortive attempt to found a silk industry in England. There is a door leading out onto Free School Lane
accessible through the Bursar's Garden.
The coat of arms was created by Robert Cooke
, Clarencieux King of Arms in 1570 on the request of the Master, Archbishop Matthew Parker. It was through this that Parker introduced the college to its symbol, the mythical pelican which has the body of a swan and the head of an eagle.
The pelican was believed in Medieval times to live in trees and lay three eggs. When they hatch the pelican quarrels with and inadvertently kills them. The mother pelican then plucks out her own breast spilling her blood on them, restoring them to life. This became a potent symbol for Christ feeding his followers spiritually with his body and blood. It was often associated with the Corpus Christi cult during the Middle Ages
but not with the Cambridge guild until the creation of the arms in the 16th Century.
The white lilies on a blue background are an ancient symbol of the Virgin Mary. The two symbols therefore incorporate the two constituent guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Although the college officially has no motto, the college toast, Floreat Antiqua Domus (i.e. "May the old house flourish") is often used as such. The nickname 'Old House' has historically been used to refer to the whole college, but most usually to designate the main college buildings, as opposed to outlying places.
The College colours
used on scarves, ties, and various sports' kits are two white stripes on a magenta background. The Boat Club
use maroon, rather than the magenta shade of pink, for their strips and oar blades
. The other sports teams use maroon or sometimes a lighter pink. The Chapel scarf, worn by the choir or chapel wardens, is a dark maroon background with two white stripes on either side of a navy blue stripe running down the middle.
are held in the college's hall on Friday and Sunday. Before the meal starts, a gong is sounded and the attendees stand as the fellows and their guests come in from the Old Combination Room
to sit at High Table
. The following Latin grace is then said:
Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Colleges of the University of Cambridge
This is a list of the colleges within the University of Cambridge. These colleges are the primary source of accommodation for undergraduates and graduates at the University and at the undergraduate level have responsibility for admitting students and organising their tuition. They also provide...
of the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
. It is notable as the only college founded by Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
townspeople: it was established in 1352 by the Guilds of Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi (feast)
Corpus Christi is a Latin Rite solemnity, now designated the solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ . It is also celebrated in some Anglican, Lutheran and Old Catholic Churches. Like Trinity Sunday and the Solemnity of Christ the King, it does not commemorate a particular event in...
and the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the second smallest of the traditional colleges of the university (after Peterhouse
Peterhouse, Cambridge
Peterhouse is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is the oldest college of the University, having been founded in 1284 by Hugo de Balsham, Bishop of Ely...
), and the smallest in terms of undergraduate student intake.
Corpus Christi is among the wealthiest colleges at Cambridge University: with an endowment of £172,218,402 it is ranked as the fifth richest college, and the third richest in terms of fixed assets per student, due to its wealth and small student population.
History
Foundation
The guildGuild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
of Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi (feast)
Corpus Christi is a Latin Rite solemnity, now designated the solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ . It is also celebrated in some Anglican, Lutheran and Old Catholic Churches. Like Trinity Sunday and the Solemnity of Christ the King, it does not commemorate a particular event in...
was founded in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
in 1349 by William Horwode, Henry de Tangmere, and John Hardy in response to the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
. They determined to found a new college in the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, the eighth in the University's history. Later the same year the new guild merged with an older guild, the Guild of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which had been decimated by the Plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
. The united guilds acquired land in the centre of town and their patron, the Duke of Lancaster
Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster
Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, 4th Earl of Leicester and Lancaster, KG , also Earl of Derby, was a member of the English nobility in the 14th century, and a prominent English diplomat, politician, and soldier...
, applied to King Edward III for a licence to found a new college, which was granted in 1352.
Construction began immediately of a single modest court
Courtyard
A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court....
near the parish church and in 1356 it was ready to house the Master
Master (college)
A Master is the title of the head of some colleges and other educational institutions. This applies especially at some colleges and institutions at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge .- See also :* Master A Master (or in female form Mistress) is the title of the head of some...
and two fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
s. The college's statutes were drawn up in 1356. The united guild merged its identity with the new college, which acquired all the guild's lands, ceremonies, and revenues. The grandest of these was the annual Corpus Christi procession
Procession
A procession is an organized body of people advancing in a formal or ceremonial manner.-Procession elements:...
: a parade through the streets to Magdalene Bridge, the host
Sacramental bread
Sacramental bread, sometimes called the lamb, altar bread, host or simply Communion bread, is the bread which is used in the Christian ritual of the Eucharist.-Eastern Catholic and Orthodox:...
carried by a priest and several of the college's treasures carried by the Master and fellows, before returning for an extravagant dinner. The parade continued until the English Reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
, when the Master, William Sowode, put a stop to it in 1535. The college continues to have a grand dinner on the feast day of Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi (feast)
Corpus Christi is a Latin Rite solemnity, now designated the solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ . It is also celebrated in some Anglican, Lutheran and Old Catholic Churches. Like Trinity Sunday and the Solemnity of Christ the King, it does not commemorate a particular event in...
, the Thursday after Trinity Sunday
Trinity Sunday
Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity...
.
The newly constructed court could house 22 fellows and students. The statutes laid down the rules governing the behaviour of fellows only. Students were not part of the foundation at this stage and would not come within the scope of the statutes for another 200 years.
Medieval Period
In its early centuries, the college was relatively poor and so could not construct new buildings; thus Old Court has survived to the present day. It had no chapelChapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
, so the members worshipped in St Bene't's Church
St Bene't's Church
St Bene't's is an Anglican church in central Cambridge, England, noted for its Anglo-Saxon tower. The church is on the south side of Bene't Street adjacent to Corpus Christi College. Bene't is a contraction of Benedict, hence the unusual apostrophe in the name...
next door. For many years, particularly during the Reformation when Catholic references were discouraged, Corpus was known as St Bene't's. By 1376 it possessed 55 books, and many more would be donated or bequeathed over the succeeding centuries, including, most significantly, those donated in the 16th century by Archbishop Matthew Parker
Matthew Parker
Matthew Parker was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder of Anglican theological thought....
, who is celebrated by the college as its greatest benefactor.
During the Peasants Revolt in 1381, the college was sacked by a mob of townspeople (and apparently some students) led by the mayor which, according to the college, carried away its charter
Charters
Charters is a surname and may refer to :* Ann Charters , American professor of English* Charlie Charters , former English rugby union official and sports marketing executive* Frank Charters, , English cricketer...
to be burned and plate
Silver (household)
Household silver or silverware includes dishware, cutlery and other household items made of sterling, Britannia or Sheffield plate silver. The term is often extended to items made of stainless steel...
while gutting the rest of the college buildings. Corpus was the only University college, although by no mean the only University building, to be attacked. The revolt, which ironically took place during the Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi (feast)
Corpus Christi is a Latin Rite solemnity, now designated the solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ . It is also celebrated in some Anglican, Lutheran and Old Catholic Churches. Like Trinity Sunday and the Solemnity of Christ the King, it does not commemorate a particular event in...
week, focused on the college as centre of discontent due to its rigid collection of "candle rents". The college claimed £80 (roughly £50,000 in modern terms) in damages.
In 1460 during the Wars of the Roses
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York...
, the college paid for armaments including artillery and arrows, and protective clothing to defend the college's treasures from a "tempestuous riot".
Elizabeth, Duchess of Norfolk
Elizabeth Tilney
Elizabeth Tilney, Countess of Surrey was an English heiress and lady-in-waiting to two queens. She became the first wife of Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey....
and her sister Lady Eleanor Botelar née Talbot
Lady Eleanor Talbot
Lady Eleanor Talbot was a daughter of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury. Her alleged pre-contract of marriage with King Edward IV of England was of great significance to the final fate of the Plantagenet dynasty and outcome of the Wars of the Roses.-Marriage:In 1449, 13-year-old Eleanor married...
, who was jilted by Edward IV
Edward IV of England
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...
, endowed the college with scholarships in the 1460s and financed repairs to the college buildings. As a monument a 'talbot'
Talbot (dog)
The talbot was a white hunting dog which is now extinct because of its lack of purpose and need for constant care, but it has been credited with being an ancestor of the modern beagle and bloodhound...
, the heraldic supporter of the Talbot family, was placed on the gable of Old Court and can still be seen today. At the same time the Master, Thomas Cosyn, built the college's first chapel and a passageway between Old Court and St Bene't's Church. Over the next few centuries, garret
Garret
A garret is generally synonymous in modern usage with a habitable attic or small living space at the top of a house. It entered Middle English via Old French with a military connotation of a watchtower or something akin to a garrison, in other words a place for guards or soldiers to be quartered...
rooms were added in Old Court increasing student numbers.
Reformation
Although spared the worst of the religious tumult that the ReformationProtestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
brought to England, the college produced adherents and indeed martyrs to both traditions. Notable are William Sowode who cancelled the Corpus Christi procession, St Richard Reynolds who was martyred by Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
and Thomas Dusgate and George Wishart
George Wishart
George Wishart was a Scottish religious reformer and Protestant martyr.He belonged to a younger branch of the Wisharts of Pitarrow near Montrose. He may have graduated M.A., probably at King's College, Aberdeen, and was certainly a student at the University of Leuven, from which he graduated in 1531...
who were both burned as Protestants
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
. It was during this time that Matthew Parker
Matthew Parker
Matthew Parker was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder of Anglican theological thought....
became Master. He donated his unrivalled library to the college, much silver plate and its symbol, the pelican. In order to ensure the safety of his collection Parker inserted into the terms of his endowment one which stated that if any more than a certain number of books were lost, the rest of the collection would pass first to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college is often referred to simply as "Caius" , after its second founder, John Keys, who fashionably latinised the spelling of his name after studying in Italy.- Outline :Gonville and...
and then (in the advent of any more losses) to Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is the fifth-oldest college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich.- Foundation :...
. Every few years, representatives from both of those colleges ceremonially inspect the collection for any losses. Parker placed a similar condition on the silver that he bequeathed to the college and these stipulations are part of the reason that Corpus Christi College retains to this day the entirety of the library and the silver collection, as they were unable to sell off (or melt down) the less valuable parts of either collection without losing both. So assiduous was Archbishop Parker in his acquisition of books and manuscripts he earned himself the epithet of "Nosey Parker", bringing about a phrase still used today. Parker was forced to resign as Master in 1553 by the accession of Mary I
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
but was elected Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
upon the succession of Elizabeth I.
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May...
is perhaps the college's most-celebrated son, having matriculated to Corpus in 1580. Although little is known about his time there, it is often believed that it was during his study for his MA that he began his work as a spy, a claim based on only a single cryptic statement by the Privy Council
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
. In 1953 during renovation of the Master's Lodge a portrait of a man "in the 21st year of his age" was discovered. As the painting is dated 1585, the year Marlowe was 21, it has been claimed as a portrait of the playwright himself.
As the number of students rose a bigger chapel became necessary. In 1578 Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, who had already endowed several scholarships to the college, donated £200 (roughly £30,000 now) for the construction of a new chapel. This sum was not nearly great enough to build a chapel, and despite the efforts of the Master and fellows, the project outran estimates and nearly bankrupted the college. The college sold all of its silver, apart from the gifts from Parker, and the building work was not completed until 1662. Other contributors included Elizabeth I and Sir Francis Drake.
Due to disputed appointments to the Mastership, Elizabeth I imposed the appointment of John Jegon
John Jegon
John Jegon was an English academic and Bishop of Norwich. He supported uniformity of Anglican doctrine and worship, and strong government. This led him into conflict with John Robinson, later of the Mayflower. On the other hand, he made efforts to satisfy local Puritans by the appointment of...
as Master in 1590. The college did not appoint its own Master for some time. Although not the college's choice, Jegon extricated the college from its financial difficulties by instituting fellow commoners, who would stay for one or two years and were never technically members of the University. Their parents were required to pay with a silver cup or tankard
Tankard
A tankard is a form of drinkware consisting of a large, roughly cylindrical, drinking cup with a single handle. Tankards are usually made of silver, pewter, or glass, but can be made of other materials, for example wood, ceramic or leather. A tankard may have a hinged lid, and tankards featuring...
, which would then be melted down.
The next notable Master was Henry Butts, who was also Vice Chancellor of the University. When the plague returned to the city and the rest of the University had fled, Butts stayed at his post and tried to limit the pestilence while staying alone in the college. He was unrewarded for his bravery and this experience seems to have had a terrible effect on him. In 1632, when Butts failed to turn up to deliver the University Sermon on Easter Day, he was found to have hanged himself.
Jacobean period
Corpus maintains an impressive collection of silver as it was the only college not to sell its silverware in support of either side during the Civil WarEnglish Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. That, and its unrivalled collection of manuscripts and massive collection of rare wines and ports, fuels rumours that it is Cambridge's richest college per student. This is a moot point, since these assets cannot be sold and most cannot be valued.
Unlike other Oxbridge
Oxbridge
Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in England, and the term is now used to refer to them collectively, often with implications of perceived superior social status...
colleges, the college managed to remain neutral during the Civil War. This was due to the ministration of Richard Love
Richard Love
Richard Love was an English churchman and academic, Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity, member of the Westminster Assembly, and Dean of Ely.-Life:...
who was Master throughout the Civil War and the Commonwealth
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...
. According to college legend, the silver plate
Silver (household)
Household silver or silverware includes dishware, cutlery and other household items made of sterling, Britannia or Sheffield plate silver. The term is often extended to items made of stainless steel...
was distributed to the fellows to keep it from being requisitioned by the warring factions. When the fighting finished the plate was returned and melted down to pay for repairs. Twelve college heads were removed from their posts, but Love and three others were retained. The college also escaped the worst excesses of the puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
Commonwealth. When William Dowsing
William Dowsing
William Dowsing was an English iconoclast who operated at the time of the English Civil War. Dowsing was a puritan soldier who was born in Laxfield, Suffolk...
inspected the college he found "nothing to amend". St Bene't's Church was not so lucky and indeed there was much disturbance in the fellowship as many were forced out and reinstated as circumstances changed through the period.
Age of Enlightenment
In 1688 the college was attacked once again by a mob, this time with an anti-Catholic bent. They made for the rooms of the bursarBursar
A bursar is a senior professional financial administrator in a school or university.Billing of student tuition accounts are the responsibility of the Office of the Bursar. This involves sending bills and making payment plans with the ultimate goal of getting the student accounts paid off...
, Clement Scott, whom they suspected of popery. He hid himself from the mob so they destroyed his books and papers.
The college continued to grow throughout the 18th Century and did produce several distinguished scholars and clergymen including the so called Benedictine Antiquaries, a dozen or so men all well known for antiquarian research including figures like Richard Gough
Richard Gough
Charles Richard Gough is a former Scottish football central defender who enjoyed great success as captain of Rangers. He also played for Scotland 61 times and had a brief spell as manager of Livingston...
, Brock Rand and William Stukeley
William Stukeley
William Stukeley FRS, FRCP, FSA was an English antiquarian who pioneered the archaeological investigation of the prehistoric monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury, work for which he has been remembered as "probably... the most important of the early forerunners of the discipline of archaeology"...
.
In the 1740s Archbishop Thomas Herring
Thomas Herring
Thomas Herring was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1747 to 1757.He was educated at Wisbech Grammar School and later Jesus College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, he was a contemporary of Matthew Hutton, who succeeded him in turn in each of his dioceses...
left £1000 for the rebuilding of the college and this led to several abortive attempts to start construction. In 1770 Dr Matthias Mawson
Matthias Mawson
Matthias Mawson was an English churchman and academic, Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Bishop of Llandaff, Bishop of Chichester, and Bishop of Ely.-Life:...
, former Master and Bishop of Ely
Bishop of Ely
The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire , together with a section of north-west Norfolk and has its see in the City of Ely, Cambridgeshire, where the seat is located at the...
, bequeathed £3000 to defray the costs of demolishing and rebuilding the college but this was not enough. It was not until 1822 when £55,000 had accrued in the rebuilding fund that efforts started. William Wilkins
William Wilkins (architect)
William Wilkins RA was an English architect, classical scholar and archaeologist. He designed the National Gallery and University College in London, and buildings for several Cambridge colleges.-Life:...
, who had recently completed major works at Downing
Downing College, Cambridge
Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1800 and currently has around 650 students.- History :...
, King's, and Trinity, was appointed architect and the New Court was completed in 1827 in a neo-gothic style. This involved the demolition of several buildings, including the Elizabethan chapel. The chapel currently standing in New Court is part of the 19th Century construction. Completion of a new, larger court allowed for many more students and numbers increased from 48 to 100.
Victorian Period
During the 19th Century the college became associated with the Evangelical religious movement. In the 1860s its popularity grew so great that it became the third largest college in Cambridge. Corpus was always strongly clerical as, at the time, all the fellows had to be in Holy OrdersHoly Orders
The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....
of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. For many years the majority of the college's graduates went on to be clergymen. The University around the college was changing quickly, with the repeal of the Test Acts and Catholic emancipation
Catholic Emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in Great Britain and Ireland in the late 18th century and early 19th century which involved reducing and removing many of the restrictions on Roman Catholics which had been introduced by the Act of Uniformity, the Test Acts and the penal laws...
allowing Catholics to join the University for the first time. The syllabus also broadened and the fellow commoners faded away. In 1882, there was a momentous change in Corpus; fellows were allowed to marry. This meant that being an academic fellow could be a lifelong career rather than a stop gap between study and becoming a country parson. Consequently, the demographics of the college fellowship changed significantly during this time. The first married fellow was Prof Edward Byles Cowell
Edward Byles Cowell
Professor Edward Byles Cowell FBA was a noted translator of Persian poetry and the first professor of Sanskrit at Cambridge University....
who was the first professor of Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
. Later in the century the college fell on hard times and the number of undergraduates dropped to fewer than 50. It was around this time that the infamous 'Chess Club' was founded. Despite their impeccant name they became notorious for hard drinking and partying. They were outlawed in the 1980s for their activities and there has been a blanket ban on all "drinking societies" since.
Edwardian Period
Colonel Robert CaldwellRobert Townley Caldwell
Robert Townley Caldwell was the Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridgefrom 1906 to 1914.-Biography:Born in Barbados on 16 March 1843, he was educated at St John's College, Winnipeg, King's College London and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. as 10th wrangler in 1865...
was made Master in 1906 and was the first ever layman to be appointed to the post. He changed the policy of the college with regard to admittance of fellows and undergraduates encouraging men from other colleges and outside Cambridge to become fellows. The college was no longer chiefly training men for the clergy. Student numbers increased significantly and a new undergraduate Library named after one of the Burgesses for the University, Geoffrey Butler was completed. The college also began construction of its sports grounds in west Cambridge in 1939.
World War II
During World War TwoWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Master was Sir Will Spens
Will Spens
Sir William Spens, CBE was an eminent educationalist in the mid twentieth century, academic and Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.-Life:...
, who was also Regional Commissioner for the Eastern Region: had Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
invaded, he would have been in charge of running Eastern England. This has led to a persistent rumour of a network of tunnels under the college excavated for this purpose. While there are extensive wine cellars, there is no evidence of such tunnels. While there were fewer undergraduates, the space was taken by cadets and officers taking short courses. Due to the increase in student numbers in the 1930s, Corpus is one of the few British institutions to have lost more members in the Second World War than in the First. Their names are inscribed in the Chapel.
Corpus owns The Eagle Pub, which is managed by Greene King. Watson and Crick
Watson and Crick
James D. Watson and Francis Crick were the two co-discoverers of the structure of DNA in 1953. They used x-ray diffraction data collected by Rosalind Franklin and proposed the double helix or spiral staircase structure of the DNA molecule...
are said to have refreshed themselves in this pub while studying the structure of DNA in the nearby Cavendish Laboratory
Cavendish Laboratory
The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the university's School of Physical Sciences. It was opened in 1874 as a teaching laboratory....
. Upon making the discovery in 1952, they are said to have walked into the pub and declared, "We have found the secret of life". A blue plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
on the front of the pub commemorates the event. The Eagle is also well known as a haunt for RAF officers in World War Two; renovations revealed hundreds of signatures, drawings and messages written, or even burnt, onto the walls and ceilings.
Modern Period
During the 1960s central heating was extended across the entire college campus. Women were also allowed to join the college Chapel Choir and dine in hall. In 1963 the college's first bar was opened in New Court. In 2008 it moved to Library Court and the old bar was converted into a post room, staffroom and a graduate student commonroom.In 1962, the college approved the conversion of the Leckhampton
Leckhampton, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Leckhampton is the residential site for graduate students of Corpus Christi College of the University of Cambridge, England. It consists of the late-19th-century Leckhampton House, the George Thomson Building, dating from the 1960s, and several other nearby houses...
site to allow for more accommodation for fellows and postgraduate students. Further properties were purchased adjacent to the site and a new building, the George Thomson
George Paget Thomson
Sir George Paget Thomson, FRS was an English physicist and Nobel laureate in physics recognised for his discovery with Clinton Davisson of the wave properties of the electron by electron diffraction.-Biography:...
building, named in honour of a former Master, was completed in 1964.
In 1983 women were first admitted as undergraduates. They had been able to become research students and Fellows for a few years before this. This made Corpus the penultimate college, the last being Magdalene
Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary Magdalene...
, to admit women as students. In the same year, the college completed building work in Botolph Court, adding further undergraduate accommodation. Similar renovation work was completed in Bene't Court above the Eagle pub in the 1990s along with the creation of the Robert Beldam building.
In recent years, the College has spearheaded the Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
Initiative and also has strong links with New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, taking a student on a full scholarship from the country each year, paid for by the Worshipful Company of Girdlers
Worshipful Company of Girdlers
The Worshipful Company of Girdlers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The organisation was awarded the right to regulate Girdlers in 1327; it was granted a Royal Charter in 1449. The Girdlers, or makers of belts and girdles, are no longer closely related to their original trade...
. The current President is the historian and Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
scholar Professor Christopher Andrew. He also chairs the 'Cambridge Intelligence Seminar' which convenes regularly in rooms. In July 2011, Corpus was 12th in the Tompkins Table
Tompkins Table
The Tompkins Table is an annual ranking that lists the Colleges of the University of Cambridge in order of their undergraduate students' performances in that year's examinations...
with a score of 65.88% (24.50% firsts).
The current college visitor
Visitor
A Visitor, in United Kingdom law and history, is an overseer of an autonomous ecclesiastical or eleemosynary institution , who can intervene in the internal affairs of that institution...
is the Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Lord Sainsbury of Turville
David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville
David John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville, FRS , is a British businessman and politician. From 1992 to 1997, he served as the Chairman of Sainsbury's . He was made a life peer in 1997, and currently sits in the House of Lords as a member of the Labour Party...
.
In 2008 the college completed the renovation of an adjacent bank building and other college buildings to create Library Court, the third court within the main college campus.
Life in College
Most of the undergraduates, who refer to themselves as Corpuscles, live in or very near the main college campus, at most a few minutes walk away. Unlike most other colleges there is a dedicated accommodation site for graduates in LeckhamptonLeckhampton, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Leckhampton is the residential site for graduate students of Corpus Christi College of the University of Cambridge, England. It consists of the late-19th-century Leckhampton House, the George Thomson Building, dating from the 1960s, and several other nearby houses...
.
As with all Cambridge colleges, Corpus has its own student unions (combination rooms
Common Room (university)
In some universities in the United Kingdom — particularly collegiate universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and Durham — students and the academic body are organised into common rooms...
) for both undergraduates and graduates, the JCR and MCR respectively. Confusingly, the JCR (Junior Combination Room) is also the name for the entire student body 'en masse' (including the graduates) and the name of the student common room as well. On November 14, 2010, the JCR and MCR student bodies disaffiliated from CUSU, after holding a College-wide ballot in which 71% of undergraduates and 86% of postgraduates that voted were in favour of disaffiliation. The JCR president for the year 2011-2012 is James Black. In 2008 the college bar was relocated from New Court to an underground position in the newly built Library Court. It hosts regular themed parties known in Corpus slang as a slack, e.g. Hallowe'en slack. Like most of the other colleges Corpus owns a punt. Named Prudence, she can only be used by members of the MCR with the permission of the 'Admiral of the Punt'.
Corpus hosts a biennial May Ball
May Ball
A May Ball is a ball at the end of the academic year that happens at any one of the colleges of the University of Cambridge. They are formal affairs, requiring evening dress, with ticket prices of around £65 to £200 , with some colleges selling tickets only in pairs...
on the Friday of May Week
May Week
May Week is the name used within the University of Cambridge to refer to a period of time at the end of the academic year. Originally May Week took place in the week during May before year-end exams began. Today, May Week takes place in June. The end of exams is a cause for heavy celebration...
. At previous balls The Automatic
The Automatic
The Automatic , are a Welsh rock band. The band is composed of Robin Hawkins on vocals, bass and synthesizers, James Frost on guitar, synthesizers, backing vocals and occasional bass, Iwan Griffiths on drums and Paul Mullen on vocals, guitar and synthesizer - since 2007...
(2009) and The Sunshine Underground
The Sunshine Underground
The Sunshine Underground are an English, Leeds based indie rock band. The Sunshine Underground play a variety of punk, funk and indie, featured on their debut album, Raise the Alarm, released by City Rockers on August 28, 2006...
(2007) have performed. The 2011 May Ball was held on Friday 24 June and the theme was "Distant Shores".http://www.corpusmayball2011.co.uk
Every year Corpus competes with its sister college in Oxford, also called Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...
, in the Corpus Challenge. Both colleges compete in many sports including football, rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
, hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
and rowing races
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
as well as darts
Darts
Darts is a form of throwing game where darts are thrown at a circular target fixed to a wall. Though various boards and games have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules...
, table tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
and pool. Winning an individual sport accrues a set amount of points with the totals deciding the overall winners. The location of 'The Challenge' alternates between the colleges every year. In 2011, it was held in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
retaining the cup, winning 125-50.
The Corpus Playroom is a student theatre, opened in 1979 and was, until 2001, run solely by the students of Corpus Christi. In 2011 the ADC Theatre
ADC Theatre
The ADC Theatre is a theatre in Cambridge, England and also a department of the University of Cambridge. It is located in Park Street, north off Jesus Lane. The theatre is owned by the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club , but is currently run as the smallest department of the university,...
took over the management of the Playroom, working alongside the college and the Fletcher Players, the college drama society, named after the Corpus alumnus
Alumnus
An alumnus , according to the American Heritage Dictionary, is "a graduate of a school, college, or university." An alumnus can also be a former member, employee, contributor or inmate as well as a former student. In addition, an alumna is "a female graduate or former student of a school, college,...
and playwright, John Fletcher
John Fletcher (playwright)
John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's...
. It has an important place in the drama landscape of Cambridge, being the only other permanent student venue apart from the ADC
ADC Theatre
The ADC Theatre is a theatre in Cambridge, England and also a department of the University of Cambridge. It is located in Park Street, north off Jesus Lane. The theatre is owned by the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club , but is currently run as the smallest department of the university,...
. Several notable performers and directors have played there including Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...
, Hugh Bonneville
Hugh Bonneville
Hugh Richard Bonneville Williams, known professionally as Hugh Bonneville , is an English stage, film, television and radio actor.-Education:...
, Sam Mendes
Sam Mendes
Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning work on his debut film American Beauty and his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret , Oliver! , Company and Gypsy . He's currently working on the 23rd James Bond...
and Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
, who is the Playroom's patron. The Playroom is currently undergoing a fund-raising campaign to renovate and expand its facilities.http://www.corpusplayroom.co.uk/project.php
Dramatically, each spring a duck chooses to lay her eggs in a flower pot in Old Court some 200m from the River Cam
River Cam
The River Cam is a tributary of the River Great Ouse in the east of England. The two rivers join to the south of Ely at Pope's Corner. The Great Ouse connects the Cam to England's canal system and to the North Sea at King's Lynn...
. When the ducklings hatch and are ready to leave for the water one of the porters
Porter (college)
The majority of colleges at the universities of Cambridge, Durham and Oxford, as well as newer collegiate universities such as York and older universities like University of Bristol and St David's College, have members of staff called porters. There is normally a head porter and a team of other...
must stop traffic on Trumpington Street to allow the duck and her offspring to cross.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p46wI9ITr2g&feature=related The porters from St Catharine's
St Catharine's College, Cambridge
St. Catharine’s College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473, the college is often referred to informally by the nickname "Catz".-History:...
across the road open the gates of their college and take over the responsibility of getting them to the river from there.
College ghosts
The College is said to be haunted by a number of ghosts. Most famous, and feared, is the terrifying apparition of Henry Butts, hero of the plague of 1630, who hanged himself with his garters in the then Master's Lodge on Easter Sunday, 1632. Butts' ghost was subject to an attempted (and purportedly unsuccessful) exorcism by three students in 1904. The last sighting of Butts was in 1967 as a half length figure of a man in the passage between New Court and Old Court.Another is that of Elizabeth Spencer and her young lover (both died in 1667). Elizabeth was the daughter of the then Master, John Spencer
John Spencer (Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge)
John Spencer was an English clergyman and scholar, Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. An erudite theologian and Hebraist, he is now remembered as the author of De Legibus Hebraeorum, a pioneer work of comparative religion, advancing the thesis that Judaism was not the earliest of...
and apart from the Master's wife, the only woman in college. One of the students, James Betts, became enamoured with her and they regularly had tea together. On one such occasion her father interrupted them and she bungled Betts into a wardrobe. She then went away for some time leaving him in the cupboard, which only opened from the outside. When she came back to the cupboard she discovered he had asphyxia
Asphyxia
Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body that arises from being unable to breathe normally. An example of asphyxia is choking. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which primarily affects the tissues and organs...
ted. Elizabeth, in a fit of grief, committed suicide, throwing herself from the roof of Old Court. Their ghosts are said to walk on Christmas Eve.
There have been few sightings of either apparition since the early 20th Century. This may have been because the Master in the 1930s, Sir Will Spens, let it be known that anyone complaining of a ghost would be sent down
Expulsion (academia)
Expulsion or exclusion refers to the permanent removal of a student from a school system or university for violating that institution's rules. Laws and procedures regarding expulsion vary between countries and states.-State sector:...
.
Buildings
Old Court
Built in the 1350s, Old Court contains some of Cambridge's oldest buildings, and retains many of its original features, such as sills and jambs used to hold oil-soaked linen in the days prior to the arrival of glass. The court is the oldest continually inhabited courtyard in the country (a claim disputed by Merton College, OxfordMerton College, Oxford
Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...
, which says the same of its Mob Quad
Mob Quad
Mob Quad is a four-sided group of buildings from the 13th and 14th centuries in Merton College, Oxford surrounding a small lawn. It is often claimed to be the oldest quadrangle in Oxford, but Merton's own Front Quad was certainly enclosed earlier and the same form was probably developed...
). It is possibly built from the core of an even older building. Four sided, it typifies the model of construction of the colleges in Oxford or Cambridge. A passageway connects Old Court to Bene't Street
Bene't Street
Bene't Street is a short but historic street in central Cambridge, England. There is a junction with King's Parade to the north and Trumpington Street to the south at the western end of the street. Free School Lane leads off to the south. To the east, the street continues as Wheeler Street.The...
. Due to its age the rooms are large and contain antique furniture but lack basic facilities and plumbing. In 1919 the ivy was removed from Old Court and a roughcast rendering was put in its place, followed by a major restoration in 1952 paid for by donations from old members.
During the Summer months students are permitted to sit on the lawn in Old Court and garden parties may be held whereas, like other Oxbridge colleges, normally only fellows are allowed to walk on the lawns. There is a large plaque, on the northern wall, dedicated to Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May...
and John Fletcher
John Fletcher (playwright)
John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's...
, both famous playwrights who studied at Corpus. Standing inside Old Court one can see the tower of St Bene't's Church
St Bene't's Church
St Bene't's is an Anglican church in central Cambridge, England, noted for its Anglo-Saxon tower. The church is on the south side of Bene't Street adjacent to Corpus Christi College. Bene't is a contraction of Benedict, hence the unusual apostrophe in the name...
, the oldest building in Cambridge, and the Old Cavendish Laboratory
Cavendish Laboratory
The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the university's School of Physical Sciences. It was opened in 1874 as a teaching laboratory....
where the structure of DNA was solved by Watson and Crick and groundbreaking work on the structure of the atom was conducted by J. J. Thomson
J. J. Thomson
Sir Joseph John "J. J." Thomson, OM, FRS was a British physicist and Nobel laureate. He is credited for the discovery of the electron and of isotopes, and the invention of the mass spectrometer...
and Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson OM, FRS was a New Zealand-born British chemist and physicist who became known as the father of nuclear physics...
.
St Bene't's Church
The adjacent St Bene't's Church served as the college's chapel until 1579 when one was built specifically for the purpose. The college remains the patron. The tower of St Bene't's is the oldest building in Cambridge dating back to before the Norman Conquest. It is also notable for being the birthplace of the practice of ringing the changesChange ringing
Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a series of mathematical patterns called "changes". It differs from many other forms of campanology in that no attempt is made to produce a conventional melody....
, which was started by Fabian Stedman
Fabian Stedman
Fabian Stedman was a leading figure in campanology and bell-ringing. His two books Tintinnalogia and Campanalogia are the first two publications on the subject, and introduce the idea of change ringing.Early LifeFabian Stedman was the second son to Reverend Francis Stedman...
, a parish clerk, in 1670.
It is connected to the college by a blocked up passage which now comprises one of the Old Court rooms. It ends in a hollow pillar in St Bene't's Church which contains a spiral staircase and portholes from which one could view the church, and specifically the Side Altar. The staircase continues further to a bathroom with a bath set at what appears to be coffin level in the adjacent graveyard.
New Court
New Court (completed 1827) was designed by William WilkinsWilliam Wilkins (architect)
William Wilkins RA was an English architect, classical scholar and archaeologist. He designed the National Gallery and University College in London, and buildings for several Cambridge colleges.-Life:...
, who is buried in the vaults of the college chapel. Although he went on to design the curtain wall in front of King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
and the National Gallery
National gallery
The National Gallery is an art gallery on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom.National Gallery may also refer to:*Armenia: National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan*Australia:**National Gallery of Australia, Canberra...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, he considered Corpus to be his favourite work and requested to be buried in the Chapel. A plaque commemorating him is in the entrance to the Parker Library
Parker Library, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
The Parker Library is the rare books and manuscripts library for Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. It is known throughout the world due to its invaluable collection of over 600 manuscripts, particularly medieval texts, the core of which were bequeathed to the College by Archbishop Matthew...
within the court. This court also housed the Butler Library, the college's student library, directly below the Parker Library. Upon completion of the building works in 2008, it relocated to the new Library Court and was renamed the Taylor Library after the project's main benefactor John Taylor
John C. Taylor (inventor)
John Crawshaw Taylor OBE is a British inventor, entrepreneur, horologist and philanthropist best known for his extensive research into electric kettles.- Career :...
. Many of the more precious volumes in the Parker Library are now protected in vaults in what used to be the Butler Library. New Court was built to symbolise the harmony between the mind, body and soul with the Parker Library on the right representing the mind, the Hall and kitchens on the left representing the body and the Chapel in the centre representing the soul.
The Chapel
The current chapel is the third the college has had and was completed in 1827 along with the rest of New Court. It was also designed by William Wilkins, but includes some Medieval glass and features, including the fellows' stalls, of the older Elizabethan Chapel, which was demolished in the construction of New Court. The first four stained glass windows date to around 1500 and come from the Abbey of MariawaldMariawald Abbey
Mariawald Abbey is a monastery of the Trappists , located above the village of Heimbach, in the district of Düren in the Eifel, in the forests around Mount Kermeter, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany....
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
which had been dissolved by Napoleon. Some of the pews and the pulpit of the Elizabethan chapel can now be found in St Andrew's Church, Thurning, Norfolk
Thurning, Norfolk
Thurning, Norfolk, is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk and district of North Norfolk, near the border with Broadland.-Location and description:...
. Hanging on the South wall is a depiction of the Madonna and Child
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
by 17th Century artist Elisabetta Sirani
Elisabetta Sirani
Elisabetta Sirani was an Italian Baroque painter whose father was the painter Giovanni Andrea Sirani of the School of Bologna-Biography:...
. The Chapel also features an icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
which is unusual for Oxbridge colleges. The depiction of the Christ Pantocrator
Christ Pantocrator
In Christian iconography, Christ Pantokrator refers to a specific depiction of Christ. Pantocrator or Pantokrator is a translation of one of many Names of God in Judaism...
was painted for the college by a Greek Orthodox monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
and is used as a focus of meditation.
The Chapel was extended in the late 19th Century to make room for increasing student numbers and the chancel dates from this time. The ceiling, which had been a stone fan ribbed vault like the ceiling of the college gatehouse, was replaced by the painted wooden ceiling still in place today.
Services are held daily and there are sung services three times a week: Evensong
Evening Prayer (Anglican)
Evening Prayer is a liturgy in use in the Anglican Communion and celebrated in the late afternoon or evening...
on a Wednesday evening and on Sunday Holy Communion
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
in the morning and Evensong in the evening. The Chapel choir is made up of students from both Corpus and other colleges in the University. They have released several CDs and tour regularly, previously visiting New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
The current organ was built by Noel Mander MBE
Mander Organs
Mander Organs is an English pipe organ maker and refurbisher based in London. Although well known for many years in the world of organ building, they achieved wider notability in 2004 with their refurbishment of the Royal Albert Hall's Father Willis organ....
in 1968 and the casework was designed by Stephen Dykes Bower
Stephen Dykes Bower
Stephen Ernest Dykes Bower was a British church architect and Gothic Revival designer best known for his work at Westminster Abbey.-Early life and education:...
. The previous organ was donated to Methodist College Belfast
Methodist College Belfast
Methodist College Belfast , styled locally as Methody, is a voluntary grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland, one of eight Northern Irish schools represented on the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, and is a member of the Independent Schools Council...
on their centenary in 1968.
The Parker Library
The collection was begun in 1376 and much improved by a bequest from Matthew ParkerMatthew Parker
Matthew Parker was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder of Anglican theological thought....
, the college's Master between 1544 and 1553, who as Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
formed a fine collection of manuscripts from the libraries of dissolved monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
. It is one of the finest and most important collections of medieval manuscripts in the world. The building was completed in 1827 in the construction of Wilkin's New Court. Currently the collection comprises over 600 manuscripts, around 480 of which were given by Parker, who also donated around 1000 printed volumes.
Its most famous possession is the Canterbury Gospels, probably brought to England by St Augustine, when he was sent by Pope Gregory I
Pope Gregory I
Pope Gregory I , better known in English as Gregory the Great, was pope from 3 September 590 until his death...
to convert the people of Britain in 598AD. The Gospels are still used in the enthronement of the Archbishops of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
today and are transported to and from Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
by the Master
Master (college)
A Master is the title of the head of some colleges and other educational institutions. This applies especially at some colleges and institutions at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge .- See also :* Master A Master (or in female form Mistress) is the title of the head of some...
and college representatives. It also contains the principal manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
, works by Matthew Paris
Matthew Paris
Matthew Paris was a Benedictine monk, English chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire...
and Chaucer's
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
Troilus and Criseyde
Troilus and Criseyde
Troilus and Criseyde is a poem by Geoffrey Chaucer which re-tells in Middle English the tragic story of the lovers Troilus and Criseyde set against a backdrop of war in the Siege of Troy. It was composed using rime royale and probably completed during the mid 1380s. Many Chaucer scholars regard it...
, to name only a few.
In a joint venture between the college, the University Library
Cambridge University Library
The Cambridge University Library is the centrally-administered library of Cambridge University in England. It comprises five separate libraries:* the University Library main building * the Medical Library...
and Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in the United States of America the entire collection was digitised and is now available on the internet.http://parkerweb.stanford.edu Completed in 2010, the process involved the digitisation
Parker Library on the Web
Parker Library on the Web was a multi-year undertaking of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, the Stanford University Libraries and the Cambridge University Library, to produce a high-resolution digital copy of every imageable page in the 538 manuscripts described in M. R...
of over 200,000 separate pages.
Library Court
Library Court was completed in January 2008 and houses the college's student centre which includes the college bar, JCR and the Taylor Library along with new college offices. The Taylor Library was largely funded by and named after Dr John Taylor
John C. Taylor (inventor)
John Crawshaw Taylor OBE is a British inventor, entrepreneur, horologist and philanthropist best known for his extensive research into electric kettles.- Career :...
, a former graduate of the college, inventor of the cordless kettle and former Chairman of Strix Ltd, an electric kettle thermostat manufacturer.
While the outer facade of the bank building facing onto Trumpington Street, designed by architect Horace Francis, is Grade II listed, the interior was not. The inside was gutted and a modern library built inside. The other rooms including the bar, student rooms, fellows rooms and student centre were remodelled within the existing building. Facing onto Library Court from the Taylor Library is a large window decorated by an engraving by Lida Kindersley. The project was designed by Wright & Wright Architects of London. The building has received several awards including the 2009 Royal Institute of British Architects
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...
Award in the East .
On 19 September 2008, physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
unveiled a new clock called the Chronophage
Corpus Clock
The Corpus Clock is a large sculptural clock at street level on the outside of the Taylor Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University, at the junction of Bene't Street and Trumpington Street, looking out over King's Parade. It was conceived and funded by John C...
, which means "Time Eater". It is situated facing onto the corner of King's Parade and Trumpington where the old entrance to the bank used to be. The clock is unusual not only because of its design but also because it is only accurate once every 5 minutes. The clock was conceived, designed and paid for by Taylor and donated to his alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
. The clock is neon lit at night.
Leckhampton
Leckhampton is the graduate campus. It is situated about a mile west of the main college site, just outside the city centre and is set off Grange Road
Grange Road, Cambridge
Grange Road is a long straight road in western Cambridge, England. It stretches north–south, meeting Madingley Road at a T-junction to the north and Barton Road to the south....
. Here there are playing fields, 9½ acres (38,000 m²) of gardens and an open air swimming pool. It is known by students of the college as "Leckers".
Other College Buildings and Gardens
There are several outlying college properties. These include Bene't Street Hostel, above The Eagle, Newnham House, located near to Newnham CollegeNewnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1871 by Henry Sidgwick, and was the second Cambridge college to admit women after Girton College...
and Botolph Court which is said to be built on top of a 17th century plague pit and slowly sinking into it.
The Robert Beldam Building, adjacent to Bene't Street Hostel, is a modern accommodation block completed in the 1990s. It includes the McCrum Lecture Theatre. Additionally, the college owns two houses (Nos 6 & 8) in Trumpington Street, known in the college as "T" Street, which are almost directly opposite the University Engineering Department
Cambridge University Engineering Department
The Cambridge University Engineering Department at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest departments in the university. The main site is situated at Trumpington Street, to the south of Cambridge city centre. The department is the primary centre for engineering teaching and research...
.
Between Trumpington Street
Trumpington Street
Trumpington Street is a major historic street in central Cambridge, England. At the north end it continues as King's Parade where King's College is located...
and Library Court are a series of terraced houses, also designed by Wilkins, owned by the college. All have been reclaimed by the college for use as student rooms or part of the Library except for the block used by the Trumpington Street Medical Practice. The doors leading from Trumpington Street have been sealed and the buildings can only be entered through Library Court.
There are two main gardens in the main college campus. The Bursar's Garden and the Master's Garden, the latter being the private garden of the Master and his family attached to the Master's Lodge. The Bursar's garden is a small garden situated between New Court, the Chapel and Old Court. Students are allowed to sit there throughout the Easter term at certain times of day. It is notable for the Mulberry
Mulberry
Morus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae. The 10–16 species of deciduous trees it contains are commonly known as Mulberries....
tree which was given to the college by King James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
as part of his abortive attempt to found a silk industry in England. There is a door leading out onto Free School Lane
Free School Lane
Free School Lane is in the centre of the City of Cambridge, England. It is the location of the Whipple Museum of the History of Science, the Department of History and Philosophy of Science the University's faculty of Social and Political Sciences, and is the original site of the Cavendish...
accessible through the Bursar's Garden.
Coat of arms
The college's coat of arms consists of a quartered shield featuring a pelican on a red background in the top left and bottom right corners and three white lilies on a blue background in the top right and bottom left corners.The coat of arms was created by Robert Cooke
Robert Cooke (officer of arms)
Robert Cooke was an English Officer of Arms in the reign of Elizabeth I. In the College of Arms, he rose to the rank of Clarenceux King of Arms, serving in that capacity from 1567 until his death in 1593. He served as marshal for the state funeral of Sir Philip Sidney in 1587...
, Clarencieux King of Arms in 1570 on the request of the Master, Archbishop Matthew Parker. It was through this that Parker introduced the college to its symbol, the mythical pelican which has the body of a swan and the head of an eagle.
The pelican was believed in Medieval times to live in trees and lay three eggs. When they hatch the pelican quarrels with and inadvertently kills them. The mother pelican then plucks out her own breast spilling her blood on them, restoring them to life. This became a potent symbol for Christ feeding his followers spiritually with his body and blood. It was often associated with the Corpus Christi cult during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
but not with the Cambridge guild until the creation of the arms in the 16th Century.
The white lilies on a blue background are an ancient symbol of the Virgin Mary. The two symbols therefore incorporate the two constituent guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Although the college officially has no motto, the college toast, Floreat Antiqua Domus (i.e. "May the old house flourish") is often used as such. The nickname 'Old House' has historically been used to refer to the whole college, but most usually to designate the main college buildings, as opposed to outlying places.
The College colours
School colors
School colors are the colors chosen by a school to represent it on uniforms and other items of identification. Most schools have two colors, which are usually chosen to avoid conflicts with other schools with which the school competes in sports and other activities...
used on scarves, ties, and various sports' kits are two white stripes on a magenta background. The Boat Club
Corpus Christi College Boat Club (Cambridge)
Corpus Christi College Boat Club is the rowing club for members of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. It represents one of the smallest colleges in Cambridge, meaning that as crews are selected from a small pool ability often varies from year to year...
use maroon, rather than the magenta shade of pink, for their strips and oar blades
Oar (sport rowing)
In rowing, oars are used to propel the boat. Oars differ from paddles in that they use a fixed fulcrum to transfer power from the handle to the blade, rather than using the athlete's shoulders or hands as the pivot-point as in canoeing and kayaking. Typical Sculling oars are around 284 cm -...
. The other sports teams use maroon or sometimes a lighter pink. The Chapel scarf, worn by the choir or chapel wardens, is a dark maroon background with two white stripes on either side of a navy blue stripe running down the middle.
In Films, Books and TV
- In Porterhouse BluePorterhouse BluePorterhouse Blue is a novel written by Tom Sharpe, first published in 1974. There was a Channel 4 TV series in 1987 based on the novel, adapted by Malcolm Bradbury...
and Grantchester GrindGrantchester GrindGrantchester Grind is a novel written by Tom Sharpe, a British novelist born in 1928 who was educated at Lancing College and then at Pembroke College, Cambridge.-Premise:...
by Tom SharpeTom SharpeTom Sharpe is an English satirical author, best known for his Wilt series of novels.Sharpe was born in London and moved to South Africa in 1951, where he worked as a social worker and a teacher, before being deported for sedition in 1961...
, the Head PorterPorter (college)The majority of colleges at the universities of Cambridge, Durham and Oxford, as well as newer collegiate universities such as York and older universities like University of Bristol and St David's College, have members of staff called porters. There is normally a head porter and a team of other...
, Skullion, is reputed to be based on Albert Jaggard, the Head Porter of Corpus during the 1960s and 1970s. The college is mentioned several times throughout the books including a scene where the Senior Tutor wakes after having "dined in Corpus" the night before with such a bad hangover he becomes convinced he is insane. Corpus also appeared in the television adaptation of Porterhouse Blue.
- In Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna ClarkeSusanna ClarkeSusanna Mary Clarke is a British author best known for her debut novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell , a Hugo Award-winning alternate history. Clarke began Jonathan Strange in 1993 and worked on it during her spare time...
when Lascelles and Drawlight are discussing Jonathan Strange, he is described as the man who "when an undergraduate at Cambridge, frightened a cat belonging to the Master of Corpus Christi".
- In, The Black Death: The Intimate Story of a Village in Crisis 1345-1350, which is a fictionalised account of the trials of the village of WalshamWalsham-le-WillowsWalsham-le-Willows is a village in Suffolk, England, located around 4 km south-east of Stanton, and lies in the Mid Suffolk council district. Queen Elizabeth I had granted Walsham-le-Willows to Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, in 1559....
during the plague by Prof John Hatcher, himself a fellow of Corpus, Hatcher makes regular reference to the guild of Corpus Christi in Cambridge.
- In EnglebyEnglebyEngleby is a novel by the author Sebastian Faulks. - External links :* * The Independent, 18 May 2007, 'Sad lad, or mad lad?' * The Guardian, May 8, 2007, The digested read: Engleby by Sebastian Faulks...
by Sebastian FaulksSebastian Faulks-Early life:Faulks was born on 20 April 1953 in Donnington, Berkshire to Peter Faulks and Pamela . Edward Faulks, Baron Faulks, is his older brother. He was educated at Elstree School, Reading and went on to Wellington College, Berkshire...
there are several references to Corpus. At one point Engleby is talking about acquiring opiumOpiumOpium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
that he bought "from a boy who got it from a Modern History fellow in Corpus Christi".
- In the 2009 IndianCinema of IndiaThe cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and...
film PaaPaa (film)Paa is a 2009 Indian film directed by R. Balakrishnan starring Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, and Vidya Balan. The film is based on a rare genetic condition known as progeria and places emphasis on a father-son relationship...
the front of Corpus, and in particular the Chronophage clock, feature prominently in one of the songs, Mudi Mudi, which was also released as a stand-alone song.
- Part of Corpus and its outer buildings appear briefly in For The Sake of Elena, an episode of the BBC adaptation of the Inspector Lynley Mysteries based on the books by Elizabeth GeorgeElizabeth GeorgeSusan Elizabeth George is an American author of mystery novels set in Great Britain.Eleven of her novels featuring her lead character Inspector Lynley have been adapted for television by the BBC as The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.-Biography:George was born in Warren, Ohio to Robert Edwin and Anne ...
. Lynley walks past the college and down Botolph Lane to get to the police station in Cambridge which is in fact part of Pembroke College, CambridgePembroke College, CambridgePembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college has over seven hundred students and fellows, and is the third oldest college of the university. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its...
- Several of the college buildings briefly appear in the Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
episode ShadaShadaShada is an unaired serial of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was intended to be the final serial of the 1979-80 season , but was never completed due to a strike at the BBC during filming...
with Tom BakerTom BakerThomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is a British actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981.-Early life:...
as the Doctor. The show was never broadcast and the episode became the subject of some controversy when it was cancelled by the BBC. It was released on video in 1992.
- In the novel, The Night Climbers, by Ivo StourtonIvo StourtonIvo James Benedict Stourton is the son of journalist and broadcaster Edward Stourton. He was educated at Eton College. Stourton first came into the public eye at the age of 17 when he wrote and starred in Kassandra, an award-winning Edinburgh Festival production about the Vietnam war...
, himself a graduate of the college, Stourton refers to Corpus Christi on several occasions.
- The Parker Library, and more often documents from it, make an appearance in several TV documentaries, particularly in those dealing with the Anglo-SaxonsAnglo-SaxonsAnglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
and the Medieval period. Notable amongst these are David Starkey'sDavid StarkeyDavid Starkey, CBE, FSA is a British constitutional historian, and a radio and television presenter.He was born the only child of Quaker parents, and attended Kendal Grammar School before entering Cambridge through a scholarship. There he specialised in Tudor history, writing a thesis on King...
MonarchyMonarchy (TV series)Monarchy is a Channel 4 British TV series, 2004-2006, by British academic David Starkey, charting the political and ideological history of the English monarchy from the Saxon period to modern times. The show also aired on PBS stations throughout the United States, courtesy of PBS-member station...
and David Dimbleby'sDavid DimblebyDavid Dimbleby is a British BBC TV commentator and a presenter of current affairs and political programmes, most notably the BBC's flagship political show Question Time, and more recently, art, architectural history and history series...
Seven Ages of BritainSeven Ages of Britain (BBC series)Seven Ages of Britain is a BBC television documentary series which is written and presented by David Dimbleby. The seven part series was first aired on Sunday nights at 9:00pm on BBC One starting on 31 January 2010....
. Most recently, Christopher de Hamel, the Donnelly Fellow Librarian, appeared on the BBC 4 series The Beauty of Books.
- The front of the college chapel appears on the cover of Andrew Douglas's book, The King's Codebreaker the first in the Thomas Hill trilogy about an Oxford academic working for the King during the English Civil War in 1643. The use of the college as the cover is unusual given that the college is not in Oxford, neither was the facade of the Chapel built until the 1820s.
- The college features prominently in the second episode of Guilty Pleasures, a two part documentary presented by Cambridge academic Michael C Scott on the subject of luxury. Several shots included the Wilkins Room of the Parker Library, the front of the Chapel and Old Court. Scott also discusses the foundation of the college, with the help of the Duke of Lancaster, as an example of the nature of luxury changing in the Middle Ages.
- New Court and the Chapel, as viewed from the main gate, feature in the British Government's GREAT Campaign to promote the UK abroad. The College Chapel is pictured under the caption "Knowledge is Great Britain" and above the bottom half of a Union flagUnion FlagThe Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada. It is also used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas...
.
College Grace
Formal dinnersFormal (university)
Formal Hall or Formal Meal is the meal held at some of the oldest , universities in the United Kingdom at which students dress in formal attire and often gowns to dine...
are held in the college's hall on Friday and Sunday. Before the meal starts, a gong is sounded and the attendees stand as the fellows and their guests come in from the Old Combination Room
Common Room (university)
In some universities in the United Kingdom — particularly collegiate universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and Durham — students and the academic body are organised into common rooms...
to sit at High Table
High Table
At Oxford, Cambridge and Durham colleges — and other, similarly traditional and prestigious UK academic institutions At Oxford, Cambridge and Durham colleges — and other, similarly traditional and prestigious UK academic institutions At Oxford, Cambridge and Durham colleges — and other, similarly...
. The following Latin grace is then said:
| Latin | English | |
| Preface on Sundays and Feast Day (Before Dinner) | Mensae caelestis participes faciat nos Rex gloriae aeternae | 'May the King of eternal glory make us partakers of the heavenly table' |
| Ante Prandium (Before Dinner) | Benedic, Domine, nobis et donis tuis, quae de tua largitate sumus sumpturi, et concede ut illis salubriter nutriti, tibi debitum obsequium praestare valeamus, per Christum Dominum nostrum. (response - Amen) | 'Bless, O Lord, us and thy gifts, which we are about to take of thy generosity; and grant that we, healthily nourished by them, may be strong to render the thanks due to thee; through Christ our Lord (Response - Amen)' |
| Post Prandium (After Dinner) | Laus Deo per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum (response - Deo Gracias) | Praise to God through Jesus Christ our Lord (response - Thanks be to God) |
Notable alumni
| Name | Birth | Death | Career |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Richard Reynolds Saint Richard Reynolds Saint Richard Reynolds was an English Brigittine monk executed in London for refusing the Oath of Supremacy to King Henry VIII of England... |
c1492 | 1535 | Catholic martyr Martyr A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:... |
| Matthew Parker Matthew Parker Matthew Parker was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder of Anglican theological thought.... |
1504 | 1575 | Archbishop of Canterbury Archbishop of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group... (1559–1575), Master of Corpus (1544–1553), Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge (1545, 1548) |
| Sir Nicholas Bacon | 1509 | 1579 | Politician and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal Lord Keeper of the Great Seal The Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, and later of Great Britain, was formerly an officer of the English Crown charged with physical custody of the Great Seal of England. This evolved into one of the Great Officers of State.... |
| George Wishart George Wishart George Wishart was a Scottish religious reformer and Protestant martyr.He belonged to a younger branch of the Wisharts of Pitarrow near Montrose. He may have graduated M.A., probably at King's College, Aberdeen, and was certainly a student at the University of Leuven, from which he graduated in 1531... |
1513 | 1546 | Scottish reformer and Protestant Protestantism Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the... martyr |
| John Jewel John Jewel John Jewel was an English bishop of Salisbury.-Life:He was the son of John Jewel of Buden, Devon, was educated under his uncle John Bellamy, rector of Hampton, and other private tutors until his matriculation at Merton College, Oxford, in July 1535.There he was taught by John Parkhurst,... |
1522 | 1571 | Bishop of Salisbury Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset... ; leader in the English Reformation English Reformation The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church.... |
| Robert Browne | 1540 | 1630 | English congregationalist and separatist |
| Francis Kett Francis Kett -Life:Kett was born in Wymondham, Norfolk, the son of Thomas and Agnes Kett, and the nephew of the rebel Robert Kett, the main instigator of Kett's Rebellion.... |
1547 | 1589 | Free-thinker; burned for heresy at Norwich Norwich Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom... |
| Sir Thomas Cavendish Thomas Cavendish Sir Thomas Cavendish was an English explorer and a privateer known as "The Navigator" because he was the first who deliberately tried to emulate Sir Francis Drake and raid the Spanish towns and ships in the Pacific and return by circumnavigating the globe... |
1555 | 1592 | Navigator |
| Robert Greene Robert Greene (16th century) Robert Greene was an English author best known for a posthumous pamphlet attributed to him, Greene's Groats-Worth of Wit, widely believed to contain a polemic attack on William Shakespeare. He was born in Norwich and attended Cambridge University, receiving a B.A. in 1580, and an M.A... |
1558 | 1592 | Author, playwright, and wit |
| John Greenwood | 1593 | Puritan and Separatist | |
| Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May... |
1564 | 1593 | Dramatist, poet, translator |
| Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork , also known as the Great Earl of Cork, was Lord Treasurer of the Kingdom of Ireland.... |
1566 | 1643 | English Courtier and Lord Treasurer of Ireland |
| Benjamin Carier Benjamin Carier Benjamin Carier was an English clergyman, a fellow of Chelsea College who was a well-publicised convert to Catholicism.-Life:He was born in Kent, in 1566, son of Anthony Carier, a minister of the Church of England. He was admitted to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 28 February 1582, proceeded B.A... |
1566 | 1614 | Chaplain to King James I James I of England James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603... , Fellow of Chelsea College Chelsea College Chelsea College may refer to :* Chelsea College * Chelsea College of Art and Design* Chelsea College of Science and Technology* Chelsea Independent College * Kensington and Chelsea College... and convert to Catholicism |
| John Robinson John Robinson (pastor) John Robinson was the pastor of the "Pilgrim Fathers" before they left on the Mayflower. He became one of the early leaders of the English Separatists, minister of the Pilgrims, and is regarded as one of the founders of the Congregational Church.-Early life:Robinson was born in Sturton le Steeple... |
1575 | 1625 | English Dissenter English Dissenters English Dissenters were Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.They originally agitated for a wide reaching Protestant Reformation of the Established Church, and triumphed briefly under Oliver Cromwell.... and pastor to the Pilgrim Fathers |
| John Fletcher John Fletcher (playwright) John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's... |
1579 | 1625 | Playwright |
| Sir John Wildman John Wildman Sir John Wildman was an English soldier and politician.-Biography:Wildman was born in the Norfolk town of Wymondham, the son of Jeffrey and Dorothy Wildman. His father was a butcher. John was educated as a sizar at Corpus Christi College University of Cambridge taking an MA in 1644... |
1621 | 1693 | English soldier and politician |
| Thomas Tenison Thomas Tenison Thomas Tenison was an English church leader, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1694 until his death. During his primacy, he crowned two British monarchs.-Life:... |
1636 | 1715 | Archbishop of Canterbury Archbishop of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group... (1694–1715) |
| Samuel Wesley Samuel Wesley (poet) Samuel Wesley was a poet and a writer of controversial prose. He was also the father of John Wesley and Charles Wesley, founders of the Methodist Church.-Family and early life:... |
1662 | 1735 | Poet and writer, father of John Wesley John Wesley John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield... and Charles Wesley Charles Wesley Charles Wesley was an English leader of the Methodist movement, son of Anglican clergyman and poet Samuel Wesley, the younger brother of Anglican clergyman John Wesley and Anglican clergyman Samuel Wesley , and father of musician Samuel Wesley, and grandfather of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley... |
| Stephen Hales Stephen Hales Stephen Hales, FRS was an English physiologist, chemist and inventor.Hales studied the role of air and water in the maintenance of both plant and animal life. He gave accurate accounts of the movements of water in plants, and demonstrated that plants absorb air... FRS Royal Society The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"... |
1677 | 1761 | Physiologist, chemist and inventor |
| William Stukeley William Stukeley William Stukeley FRS, FRCP, FSA was an English antiquarian who pioneered the archaeological investigation of the prehistoric monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury, work for which he has been remembered as "probably... the most important of the early forerunners of the discipline of archaeology"... FRS Royal Society The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"... FRCP Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter... FSA Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is... |
1687 | 1765 | Antiquarian and biographer of Sir Isaac Newton Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."... |
| Richard Rigby Richard Rigby Richard Rigby , was an English civil servant and politician. He served as Secretary of Ireland and Paymaster of the Forces... |
1722 | 1788 | Paymaster of the Forces Paymaster of the Forces The Paymaster of the Forces was a position in the British government. The office, which was established 1661 after the Restoration, was responsible for part of the financing of the British Army. The first to hold the office was Sir Stephen Fox. Before his time it had been the custom to appoint... (1768–1784) |
| The Rt Hon Frederick Augustus Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol | 1730 | 1803 | Bishop of Cloyne Bishop of Cloyne The Bishop of Cloyne is an episcopal title which takes its name after the small town of Cloyne in County Cork, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it is a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishoprics.... (1767–1768) and Bishop of Derry Bishop of Derry The Bishop of Derry is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric.-History:... (1768–1803) |
| Richard Gough Richard Gough (antiquarian) Richard Gough was an English antiquarian.He was born in London, where his father was a wealthy M.P. and director of the British East India Company. In 1751 he entered Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he began his work on British topography, published in 1768... |
1735 | 1809 | Antiquarian |
| Sir William Ashburnham, 5th Baronet Sir William Ashburnham, 5th Baronet Sir William Ashburnham, 5th Baronet was a British politician.Baptised at St Anne's Church, Soho on 29 March 1739, he was the eldest surviving son of Reverend Sir William Ashburnham, 4th Baronet and his wife Margaret Pelham, daughter of Thomas Pelham. Ashburnham was educated at Corpus Christi... |
1739 | 1823 | MP Member of Parliament A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,... for Hastings Hastings (UK Parliament constituency) Hastings was a parliamentary constituency in Sussex. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until the 1885 general election, when its representation was reduced to one member.... (1761–1774) |
| George Capel-Coninsby George Capel-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex George Capel-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex FSA was an English aristocrat and politician, styled Viscount Malden until 1799.-Life:... |
1757 | 1839 | 5th Earl of Essex Earl of Essex Earl of Essex is a title that has been held by several families and individuals. The earldom was first created in the 12th century for Geoffrey II de Mandeville . Upon the death of the third earl in 1189, the title became dormant or extinct... and Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire. Before the English Civil War, the lieutenancy of Herefordshire was always held by the Lord Lieutenant of Wales, but after the Restoration, its lieutenants were appointed separately... (1802–1827), MP for Lostwithiel Lostwithiel Lostwithiel is a civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739... (1781–1784), Okehampton Okehampton Okehampton is a town and civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and has an estimated population of 7,155.-History:... (1785–1790), Radnor Radnorshire Radnorshire is one of thirteen historic and former administrative counties of Wales. It is represented by the Radnorshire area of Powys, which according to the 2001 census, had a population of 24,805... (1794–1799) and Westminster Westminster Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross... (1779–1780) |
| William St Julien Arabin William St Julien Arabin William St Julien Arabin was a British jurist who served as the United Kingdom Judge Advocate General for a three-and-a-half-month period .... |
1791 | 1841 | British jurist |
| Joseph Blakesley | 1808 | 1885 | Clergyman and author |
| John James Stewart Perowne John James Stewart Perowne John James Stewart Perowne was an English bishop. Born in Burdwan, Bengal, Perowne was a member of a notable clerical family, whose origins were Hugenot.... |
1823 | 1904 | Theologian |
| George Evans Moule George Evans Moule George Evans Moule was an Anglican missionary in China and the first Anglican bishop of mid-China.... |
1828 | 1912 | English clergyman and first Bishop of Mid-China (1880–1907) |
| Frederick Barff Frederick Settle Barff Frederick Settle Barff was a chemist, ecclesiastical decorator, and stained glass manufacturer, much interested in theology.... |
1840 | 1886 | Chemist and co-inventor of the Bower-Barff process Bower-Barff process In metallurgy, the Bower–Barff process in metallurgy is a method of coating iron or steel with magnetic Iron oxide, such as Fe2O4, in order to minimize atmospheric corrosion.... |
| The Rt Hon Sir Horace Avory Horace Avory Sir Horace Edmund Avory was an English criminal lawyer, jurist and Privy Counsellor.-Biography:He was the son of Henry Avory, clerk of the Central Criminal Court. He was educated at King's College London, and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he was captain of boats and took the degree of... |
1851 | 1935 | English Judge and the prosecution against Oscar Wilde Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s... |
| William Henry Dines William Henry Dines William Henry Dines BA FRS was an English meteorologist.Dines was born in London, the son of George Dines, also a meteorologist. He was educated at Woodcote House school, Windlesham, and afterwards entered Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he obtained a first-class in the mathematical... FRS |
1855 | 1927 | English meteorologist |
| Sydney Copeman K.St.J Venerable Order of Saint John The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and... FRS FRCP |
1862 | 1947 | British medical doctor and civil servant |
| Albert Harland Albert Harland Albert Harland was a British Conservative Party politician.After studying at Temple Grove in East Sheen and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Harland moved to Sheffield, where he set up as a snuff manufacturer.... |
1869 | 1957 | Conservative MP for Sheffield Ecclesall Sheffield Ecclesall (UK Parliament constituency) Sheffield Ecclesall was a Parliamentary constituency represented by a single Member of Parliament in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1950. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.- Boundaries... (1923–1929) |
| John Cowper Powys John Cowper Powys -Biography:Powys was born in Shirley, Derbyshire, in 1872, the son of the Reverend Charles Francis Powys , who was vicar of Montacute, Somerset for thirty-two years, and Mary Cowper Johnson, a descendent of the poet William Cowper. He came from a family of eleven children, many of whom were also... |
1872 | 1963 | Writer, lecturer, philosopher |
| Llewelyn Powys Llewelyn Powys Llewelyn Powys was a British writer and younger brother of John Cowper Powys and T. F. Powys.-Life:Powys was born in Dorchester, the son of a clergyman, and was educated at Sherborne School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. While lecturing in the United States he contracted tuberculosis... |
1884 | 1939 | Writer |
| Sir Wilfred Marcus Askwith Wilfred Marcus Askwith Wilfred Marcus Askwith, KCMG, DD was the 2nd Bishop of Blackburn who was later translated to Gloucester. Educated at Bedford School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge he was ordained in 1914. His first post was as Curate at St Helens Parish Church. After this he was a Master and Assistant... KCMG Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III.... |
1890 | 1962 | Bishop of Blackburn Bishop of Blackburn The Bishop of Blackburn is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Blackburn in the Province of York.The diocese covers much of the county of Lancashire and has its see in the town of Blackburn, where the seat of the diocese is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary... (1942–1954) and Bishop of Gloucester Bishop of Gloucester The Bishop of Gloucester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Gloucester in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers the County of Gloucestershire and part of the County of Worcestershire and has its see in the City of Gloucester where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church... (1954–1962) |
| Captain Henry Macintosh Henry Macintosh Henry Maitland Macintosh was a Scottish athlete, winner of gold medal in 4 x 100 m relay at the 1912 Summer Olympics.... |
1892 | 1918 | British athlete, 1912 Olympic gold medal winner and World War One soldier |
| Captain Sir B.H. Liddell Hart | 1895 | 1970 | Military historian |
| Boris Ord Boris Ord Boris Ord , born Bernhard Ord, was an English organist, composer and musical director best known as the choir master of King's College, Cambridge.... |
1897 | 1961 | Composer and Director of Music and Choirmaster at Kings College, Cambridge |
| Edward Upward Edward Upward Edward Falaise Upward was a British novelist and short story writer and, prior to his death, was believed to be the UK's oldest living author.-Biography:... |
1903 | 2009 | Novelist |
| Christopher Isherwood Christopher Isherwood Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed... |
1904 | 1986 | Novelist |
| Sheldon Dick Sheldon Dick Sheldon Dick was an American publisher, literary agent, photographer, and filmmaker. He was a member of a wealthy and well-connected industrialist family, and was able to support himself while funding a series of literary and artistic endeavors. He published a book by poet Edgar Lee Masters,... |
1906 | 1950 | American publisher, photographer, filmmaker and literary agent |
| Edward Richard Assheton Curzon, 6th Earl Howe Edward Curzon, 6th Earl Howe Edward Richard Assheton Penn Curzon, 6th Earl Howe, CBE was a British peer, known as Viscount Curzon from 1929-1964.... CBE Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions... |
1908 | 1984 | Conservative politician |
| Sir Desmond Lee Desmond Lee Sir Henry Desmond Pritchard Lee , known as Desmond Lee, was an English classical scholar specializing in ancient philosophy who became a Fellow and tutor of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, a lecturer in the University, and head master successively of Clifton College and Winchester College,... |
1908 | 1993 | Classical scholar |
| Dudley Senanayake Dudley Senanayake Dudley Shelton Senanayake was a Ceylonese politician, who became the second Prime Minister of Ceylon and went on to become prime minister on 2 more times during the 1950s and 1960s.-Early life:Dudley was born on 19 June, 1911 as the eldest son to Molly Dunuwila and Don Stephen Senanayake, who... |
1911 | 1973 | Prime Minister of Ceylon (1952–1953, 1960, 1965–1970) |
| Sir Gordon Wolstenholme | 1913 | 2004 | Medical pioneer |
| Nigel Clive Cosby Trench, 7th Baron Ashtown Nigel Trench, 7th Baron Ashtown Nigel Clive Cosby Trench, 7th Baron Ashtown, KCMG was a British diplomat.Trench was the son of son of Clive Newcome Trench and Kathleen Maud Marion McIvor. He was educated at Eton College and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge... KCMG |
1916 | 2010 | Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (1969–1971) and to Portugal Portugal Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the... (1974–1976) |
| John Chadwick John Chadwick John Chadwick was an English linguist and classical scholar most famous for his role in deciphering Linear B, along with Michael Ventris.-Early life and education:... |
1920 | 1998 | Classicist and decipherer of Linear B Linear B Linear B is a syllabic script that was used for writing Mycenaean Greek, an early form of Greek. It pre-dated the Greek alphabet by several centuries and seems to have died out with the fall of Mycenaean civilization... |
| Robin Coombs | 1921 | 2006 | Immunologist Immunology Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. It deals with the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and diseases; malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders ; the... |
| T. E. Utley T. E. Utley Thomas Edwin 'Peter' Utley CBE was an English High Tory journalist.Utley, blind since his childhood, went to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he achieved a double first in History. During the Second World War, he was a Times leader writer and then worked for the Observer and the Sunday Times... CBE Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions... |
1921 | 1988 | English journalist and author |
| Sir Alan Cook Alan Cook Sir Alan Hugh Cook FRS was a British physicist who specialised in geophysics, astrophysics and particularly precision measurement.-Early life and family:Cook was born in Felsted, Essex in 1922... |
1922 | 2004 | Professor of Geophysics Geophysics Geophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and... and President of the Royal Astronomical Society Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society is a learned society that began as the Astronomical Society of London in 1820 to support astronomical research . It became the Royal Astronomical Society in 1831 on receiving its Royal Charter from William IV... (1977) |
| Sir Campbell Adamson Campbell Adamson Sir Campbell Adamson was a British industrialist who was best known for his work as Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry from 1969 to 1976... |
1922 | 2000 | Director General of the CBI Confederation of British Industry The Confederation of British Industry is a British not for profit organisation incorporated by Royal charter which promotes the interests of its members, some 200,000 British businesses, a figure which includes some 80% of FTSE 100 companies and around 50% of FTSE 350 companies.-Role:The CBI works... (1969–1976) |
| Sir Colin St John Wilson Colin St John Wilson Sir Colin Alexander St John Wilson, FRIBA, RA, was a British architect, lecturer and author. He spent over 30 years progressing the project to build a new British Library in London, originally planned to be built in Bloomsbury and now completed near Kings Cross.-Early and private life:Wilson was... RA Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and... |
1922 | 2007 | British architect |
| E.P. Thompson | 1924 | 1993 | Historian, socialist, peace campaigner |
| Michael William McCrum Michael William McCrum Michael William McCrum CBE was an English academic and ancient historian who served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and Head Master of Tonbridge School and Eton College.-Life:McCrum was born at Alverstoke in Hampshire... CBE Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions... |
1924 | 2005 | English academic and Headmaster of Eton College Eton College Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor".... (1970–1980) |
| Alistair Macdonald Alistair Macdonald Alistair Huistean Macdonald was a British Labour Party politician.Macdonald was educated at Dulwich College, Enfield Technical College and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He was a bank clerk and area treasurer of the National Union of Bank Employees... |
1925 | 1999 | Labour MP for Chislehurst Chislehurst (UK Parliament constituency) Chislehurst was a parliamentary constituency in what is now the London Borough of Bromley. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.... (1966–1970) |
| Rt Hon Sir Rhodes Boyson Rhodes Boyson Sir Rhodes Boyson is a British educator, author and politician and a former Conservative Member of Parliament for Brent North... |
1925 | Conservative MP for Brent North (1974–1997), Minister of State for Northern Ireland (1984–1986), Minister of State for the Environment (1986–1987) | |
| Eric Sams Eric Sams Eric Sams was a British musicologist and Shakespeare scholar.Born in London, he was raised in Essex; his early brilliance in school earned him a scholarship to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge at the age of sixteen. His life-long passion for puzzles and ciphers stood him in good stead in his... |
1926 | 2004 | Musicologist and Shakespearean scholar |
| Prof Christopher Hooley Christopher Hooley Christopher Hooley FLSW FRS is a British mathematician, emeritus professor of mathematics at Cardiff University. He did his PhD under the supervision of Albert Ingham. He won the Adams Prize of Cambridge University in 1973. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1983... FRS Royal Society The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"... |
1928 | British mathematician | |
| Sir John Michael Gorst John Michael Gorst Sir John Michael Gorst was a British Conservative Party politician.He was educated at Ardingly College and read French and History at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. In 1953 he joined the advertising department of Pye Ltd... |
1929 | Conservative MP for Hendon North Hendon North (UK Parliament constituency) Hendon North was a constituency in the former Municipal Borough of Hendon which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom... (1970–1997) |
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| The Very Rev Sir Michael Mayne Michael Mayne Michael Clement Otway Mayne KCVO was an English priest of the Church of England who served as the Dean of Westminster.... KCVO Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys... |
1929 | 2006 | Dean of Westminster Abbey (1986–1996) |
| David Blow | 1931 | 2004 | Chemist and inventor of Xray Crystallography |
| John C. Taylor John C. Taylor (inventor) John Crawshaw Taylor OBE is a British inventor, entrepreneur, horologist and philanthropist best known for his extensive research into electric kettles.- Career :... |
1933 | Inventor, entrepreneur, horologist and philanthropist | |
| General Sir David Ramsbotham, Baron Ramsbotham GCB Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath... CBE Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions... |
1934 | 2004 | Soldier and Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons is the head of HM Inspectorate of Prisons and the senior inspector of prisons, young offender institutions and immigration service detention and removal centres in England and Wales... (1995–2001) |
| General Sir Jeremy Blacker Jeremy Blacker General Sir Anthony Stephen Jeremy Blacker KCB CBE is a former Master-General of the Ordnance.-Military career:Educated at Sherborne School, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Blacker was commissioned into the Royal Tank Regiment in 1959... KCB Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath... CBE Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions... |
1939 | Master-General of the Ordnance Master-General of the Ordnance The Master-General of the Ordnance was a very senior British military position before 1855, when the Board of Ordnance was abolished.-Responsibilities:... (1991–1995) |
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| Sir Alan Wilson | 1939 | Scientist, Master of Corpus (2006–2007) | |
| Sir Anthony Bottoms Anthony Bottoms Sir Anthony Edward Bottoms FBA was Wolfson Professor of Criminology at Cambridge University from 1984 to 2006 and until December 2007 a Professor of Criminology jointly at the universities of Cambridge and Sheffield.... |
1939 | Wolfson Professor of Criminology Wolfson Professor of Criminology The Wolfson Professor of Criminology is a senior professorship at the University of Cambridge. The position was established in 1960 by a benefaction by the Wolfson Foundation and is the first of its kind in Britain. The position's first holder was Sir Leon Radzinowicz. Recently, American... at Cambridge (1984–2006) |
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| Michael Steed Michael Steed Michael Steed is a British psephologist, political scientist, broadcaster, activist and Liberal Democrat politician. He was born in 1940 in Kent, where his father was a farmer. He has written extensively on parties and elections.... |
1940 | Psephologist Psephology Psephology is that branch of political science which deals with the study and scientific analysis of elections. Psephology uses historical precinct voting data, public opinion polls, campaign finance information and similar statistical data. The term was coined in the United Kingdom in 1952 by... and Liberal politician |
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| Stewart Sutherland, Baron Sutherland of Houndwood Stewart Sutherland, Baron Sutherland of Houndwood Stewart Ross Sutherland, Baron Sutherland of Houndwood, is a British academic and public servant and one of the UK's most distinguished philosophers of religion.He was educated at Robert Gordon's College... KT Order of the Thistle The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the Order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland who asserted that he was reviving an earlier Order... FRSE Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland... FBA British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual... FKC |
1941 | Academic and public servant | |
| John Elliot Lewis John Lewis (headmaster) John Elliot Lewis was the head master of Eton College from 1994 to 2002.Born in New Zealand in 1942, Lewis attended King's College, Auckland. He gained a double first in Classics from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and taught at Eton between 1971 and 1980. He was a distinguished rugby player... |
1942 | Headmaster of Eton College Eton College Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor".... (1994–2002) |
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| Sir Richard Armstrong Richard Armstrong (conductor) Sir Richard Armstrong, CBE is a British conductor. He was educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he was an organ scholar.-Overview:... CBE Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions... |
1943 | British conductor and musician | |
| Sir Mark Elder CBE Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions... |
1947 | Current Conductor and Musical Director of the Halle Orchestra | |
| Neil Hamilton Neil Hamilton (politician) Mostyn Neil Hamilton is a former British barrister, teacher and Conservative MP. Since losing his seat in 1997 and leaving politics, Hamilton and his wife Christine have become media celebrities... |
1947 | Disgraced Conservative MP for Tatton Tatton (UK Parliament constituency) - Elections in the 1990s :- Elections in the 1980s :- Sources :* Data for the 2005 election are from the .* Data for the 2001 election are from http://www.election.demon.co.uk/.... (1983–1997) |
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| Karol Sikora Karol Sikora Dr Karol Sikora is a controversial and outspoken British physician specialising in oncology. He is currently Medical Director of CancerPartnersUK and dean of the University of Buckingham's medical school.-Early life:... FRCR Royal College of Radiologists The Royal College of Radiologists is the professional body responsible for the specialty of clinical oncology and clinical radiology throughout the United Kingdom. Its role is to advance the science and practice of radiology and oncology, further public education and set appropriate professional... FRCP Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter... |
1948 | Controversial oncologist Oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with cancer... and Chief of the World Health Organisation cancer programme (1997–1999) |
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| Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent James Burnell-Nugent Admiral Sir James Michael Burnell-Nugent KCB, CBE, ADC was the Commander-in-Chief Fleet of the Royal Navy.-Early life:He attended Stowe School in Buckinghamshire then went to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.-Naval career:... KCB Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath... CBE Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions... ADC Aide-de-camp An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state... |
1949 | Commander-in-Chief Fleet Commander-in-Chief Fleet Commander-in-Chief Fleet is the admiral responsible for the operation, resourcing and training of the ships, submarines and aircraft, and personnel, of the British Royal Navy... (2005–2007) |
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| Sir Stephen Lamport Stephen Lamport Sir Stephen Mark Jeffrey Lamport, KCVO, DL is Receiver General of Westminster Abbey after a dinstinguished career.He was born in 1951 and educated at Dorking Grammar School, and Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge, where he was a Scholar and graduated with a BA , and subsequently... KCVO Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys... DL Deputy Lieutenant In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county.... |
1951 | Private Secretary to HRH Prince of Wales Prince of Wales Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms... (1996–2002) |
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| The Rt Hon Sir Terence Etherton Terence Etherton Sir Terence Michael Elkan Barnet Etherton , styled The Rt Hon. Lord Justice Etherton, is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.-Early life:... |
1951 | British Judge of the Court of Appeal | |
| The Rt Hon Francis Maude MP Francis Maude Francis Anthony Aylmer Maude is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he currently serves as the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, and as a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Horsham... |
1953 | Conservative MP for Horsham Horsham (UK Parliament constituency) Horsham is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :... (1997-), Conservative MP for North Warwickshire North Warwickshire (UK Parliament constituency) -Notes and references:... (1983–1992), current Minister for the Cabinet Office Minister for the Cabinet Office The Minister for the Cabinet Office is a position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The post of Minister of the Cabinet Office is sometimes derided as the Minister for the Today programme.-Ministers for the Cabinet Office:... and Paymaster General, Financial Secretary to the Treasury Financial Secretary to the Treasury Financial Secretary to the Treasury is a junior Ministerial post in the British Treasury. It is the 4th most significant Ministerial role within the Treasury after the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and the Paymaster General... (1990–1992) and Chairman of the Conservative Party (1999–2001) |
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| Robert McCrum Robert McCrum Robert McCrum , is an English writer and editor. He served as literary editor of The Observer for more than ten years. In May 2008 he was appointed Associate Editor of the Observer and was succeeded as literary editor by William Skidelsky... |
1953 | Writer and editor | |
| Anthony R. M. Little | 1954 | Headmaster of Eton College (2002–present) | |
| Tom Utley Tom Utley Tom Utley is a British journalist who currently writes for the Daily Mail. He had previously written for The Daily Telegraph, where he was described by The Independent as a 'star columnist', but left in early 2006 after being offered a salary of £120,000 by the Daily Mail. He is the son of the... |
c1954 | English journalist | |
| Peter Luff MP Peter Luff Peter James Luff MP is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for Mid Worcestershire since the 1997 general election, and was MP Worcester from 1992 until 1997... |
1955 | Conservative MP for Mid Worcestershire (1997-), MP for Worcester Worcester (UK Parliament constituency) Worcester is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Since 1885 it has elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election; from 1295 to 1885 it elected two MPs.... (1992–1997), current Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology |
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| The Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP Owen Paterson Owen William Paterson is a British Conservative Party politician and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. He is the Member of Parliament for North Shropshire.-Early life and career:Paterson was born in Whitchurch, Shropshire... |
1956 | Conservative MP for North Shropshire North Shropshire (UK Parliament constituency) North Shropshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From its first creation in 1832 to the abolition of the first creation in 1885 it elected two Knights of the Shire... (1997-), current Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Secretary of State for Northern Ireland The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, informally the Northern Ireland Secretary, is the principal secretary of state in the government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State is a Minister of the Crown who is accountable to the Parliament of... |
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| Scott H. MacKenzie | 1958 | Historian | |
| Madeleine Bunting Madeleine Bunting Madeleine Bunting is an English journalist and writer who is an Associate Editor and columnist on The Guardian.Born in Oswaldkirk, North Yorkshire, Bunting was educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where she read History, and won a Knox postgraduate fellowship to study Politics and teach... |
Author, editor, and journalist | ||
| Bernard Jenkin MP Bernard Jenkin Bernard Christison Jenkin is a politician in the United Kingdom, and the current Member of Parliament for Harwich and North Essex... |
1959 | Conservative MP for Harwich and North Essex Harwich and North Essex (UK Parliament constituency) Harwich and North Essex is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.... (1997–present), MP for Colchester North Colchester North (UK Parliament constituency) Colchester North was a borough constituency in Essex, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. It was a safe Conservative seat throughout its... (1992–1997) |
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| Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi Shah Mehmood Qureshi Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Hussain Qureshi is well-known Politician in Pakistan. He was the Foreign Minister of Pakistan in the coalition government of PPP, Muttahida Quami Movement[MQM], ANP and JUI-F formed after the 2008 general elections. He was a senior leader of Pakistan Peoples Party, where... |
1956 | Foreign Minister, Government of Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan... (2008–2011) |
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| Makhdoom Ali Khan Makhdoom Ali Khan Makhdoom Ali Khan , is a practising Senior Advocate Supreme Court. Makhdoom Ali Khan is a former Attorney General of Pakistan, former Chairman Pakistan Bar Council, former member of the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan, former Board Member of the Federal Judicial Academy of Pakistan and a... |
1954 | Barrister, Attorney General of Pakistan (2001–2007) | |
| Simon Heffer Simon Heffer Simon James Heffer is a British journalist, columnist and writer.-Education:Heffer was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.-Career:... |
1960 | Journalist | |
| Andrew J. Watson | 1961 | Bishop of Aston (2008-) | |
| David Gibbins David Gibbins David Gibbins is a Canadian-born underwater archaeologist and a bestselling novelist.-Biography:He was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, to English parents who were both academic scientists. He travelled around the world with them by sea as a boy, including four years living in New Zealand,... |
1962 | Novelist and archaeologist | |
| Marty Natalegawa Marty Natalegawa Raden Mohammad Marty Muliana Natalegawa, more commonly known as Marty Natalegawa, is an Indonesian diplomat and the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Second United Indonesia Cabinet... |
1963 | Foreign Minister, Government of Indonesia Indonesia Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an... (2009-) |
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| Hugh Bonneville Hugh Bonneville Hugh Richard Bonneville Williams, known professionally as Hugh Bonneville , is an English stage, film, television and radio actor.-Education:... |
1963 | English Actor | |
| Philip Jeyaretnam Philip Jeyaretnam Philip Antony Jeyaretnam is a lawyer from Singapore. He is a Senior Counsel in Singapore, former President of the Law Society of Singapore, and a member of the Singapore Public Service Commission. He is also well known as a fiction writer. He is the younger son of the late veteran Singaporean... |
1964 | Singaporean lawyer and writer | |
| Keith James | 1980 | Chemist | |
| Ivo Stourton Ivo Stourton Ivo James Benedict Stourton is the son of journalist and broadcaster Edward Stourton. He was educated at Eton College. Stourton first came into the public eye at the age of 17 when he wrote and starred in Kassandra, an award-winning Edinburgh Festival production about the Vietnam war... |
1982 | Author |
Gallery
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See also
Alumni of Corpus Christi College, CambridgeFellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
- List of Masters of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
- Corpus Christi College Boat Club (Cambridge)Corpus Christi College Boat Club (Cambridge)Corpus Christi College Boat Club is the rowing club for members of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. It represents one of the smallest colleges in Cambridge, meaning that as crews are selected from a small pool ability often varies from year to year...
- List of Organ Scholars